


I Will Be Your Third

by Arytra, ReleasingmyInsanity



Category: Sesame Street (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Asexuality Spectrum, Bob is a ridiculously good friend, Canon Character of Color, Cute Kids, Deaf Character, F/M, Fake Marriage, Families of Choice, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Interracial Relationship, Mentions of Infertility, Mr. Hooper is everyone's dad, Mr. Hooper lives, Multi, Parenthood, Polyamory, References to Triad Verse-specific discrimination, Sesame Street is a safe space, Sign Language, Triad Verse, Triad Verse Big Bang 2018, Unconventional Families, so many relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-07-29 20:17:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16271591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arytra/pseuds/Arytra, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReleasingmyInsanity/pseuds/ReleasingmyInsanity
Summary: When Bob decided to be Susan and Gordon’s beard so that they could get married, inspired by Mr. Hooper doing the same for Mr. Macintosh and Willy, his plan was to simply not fall in love. He wasn’t counting on the five most wonderful people he had ever met, Linda, Luis, Olivia, David, and Maria.





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so, so much to pterawaters for being super amazing and brilliant and making the terrific artwork. Their art masterpost is here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16162970  
> And a huge thank you to thisnewjoe for being an excellent beta.
> 
> Italics indicate that the characters are speaking in American Sign Language.
> 
> Despite the way AO3 shows it, we wrote every chapter together.
> 
> Definitions:  
> Triad Verse: A universe where instead of couples being the norm, everyone is expected to have three people in a relationship.  
> Triad: The term for a full three-person relationship.  
> Primer Couple: A couple who have not yet found a third and become a full triad.  
> Standing Couple: A couple from a married triad who have lost their third for any reason including divorce.  
> Prejudice Against Couples: Couples aren't unheard of, but tend to be treated in a similar manner to the way homosexual couples were and in some places still are, treated. They cannot marry and it is nearly impossible to adopt.

Pterawaters' excellent playlist is [here](https://open.spotify.com/user/pterawaters/playlist/3hDEympeEncp5udfKEZXFe?si=3ecxyOHtRJaJYcfdOzfKyQ)

The future looked bright on graduation day for the class of 1965. Bob was getting his degree in music, Susan in nursing, and Gordon in science education. The three knew where they were going and what they wanted to do with their lives. And most importantly, Susan and Gordon were in love. Life was good.

Bob was the first to head out out the door, looking up at the sky and rocking back and forth on his heels. His graduation robes settled around him as he waited in anticipation for the other two to follow. Susan was the next one out as she moved swiftly in her own robes, setting Bob’s cap on his head with a half laugh and the, er, slightly exasperated sigh she had for the man as he sheepishly smiled back at her. Gordon finished up, locking the door before throwing an arm around them both and pulling Susan into a kiss. Susan laughed, reaching up to catch her cap before it fell to the ground. “Gordon,” she said pulling back after a couple of seconds. “We’ll be late.”

“If you two want to take longer, we could always run part of the way,” Bob teased.

Gordon snickered and grinned at his friend before they headed toward the ceremony. They entered and glanced around to look around for their family. All nine of their parents were there, as well as Gordon’s sister Olivia. Bob and Susan didn’t know her very well, but they thought she was a lot of fun. She and Bob often teased Susan and Gordon for being mushy. They were looking forward to spending part of the victory party together.

The rest of the graduation was a blur as they soon had their diplomas in hand, hugging each other and, in the case of Gordon and Susan, kissing once again. “I don’t know how you put up with that all the time,” Olivia said to Bob as she came up behind him. He grinned back at her.

“A lot of patience,” he answered.

“Do you guys know what you’re going to do yet?” She asked.

“We’re going to stay in the same area. We found a couple of places on Sesame Street over near one of the libraries. One of the schools nearby offered Gordon a job…” He said.

“And you two decided to go with,” Olivia answered. Bob nodded.

“Hey! Gordon! I didn’t come out here to talk to your friends all night. Stop making out with Susan and give me a hug. Hi Susan!”

“Hi Olivia,” Susan said, looking a little embarrassed.

“I don’t remember telling you to come,” Gordon teased as he pulled his younger sister into a hug. “You want to come help us move next week?”

“Gee, you know how to make me want to stay, Gordon,” Olivia said dryly.

“Gordon!” Susan scolded. “We’d love to have you over soon. Without you needing to help.”

“I’ll help anyway. I want to see where you’re going to live,” Olivia told her. “If you guys can remember to help and not destroy my innocence.”

“Stop destroying Olivia’s innocence,” Bob said with a bit too much glee. Gordon glared at him while Susan had the grace to look sheepish but all four of them headed out with the rest of the family to enjoy the celebration.

Halfway through the party, there was a quietly planned break in the music. Gordon had something important to say to Susan.

“Susan, we’ve been together for nearly four years and now we’re planning to stay together in the future. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Shall we make this official?”

He held up a ring. Susan’s hands went to cover her face in excitement, then quickly moved to take Gordon’s hands.

“Yes!”

Susan and Gordon kissed again, for what seemed like the hundredth time today. But no one was objecting this time. Everyone was thrilled for the newly committed couple.

Bob sat back, satisfied. Gordon had been asking him for help with this plan for over a month and everything had gone perfectly. Olivia leaned over to whisper to him, “Does this make us in-laws?”

Caught off guard, Bob laughed. He certainly felt like Susan’s brother. Maybe Olivia had a point.

Olivia winked at him. “They seem to have finally stopped kissing. Let’s go.”

And the pair of them joined the crowd to wish Susan and Gordon congratulations.

\--

Moving to Sesame Street was not nearly as difficult as they would have imagined. First off, they were surrounded by a plethora of helpful beings who were curious about them from the start. Second, the humans around were equally helpful, offering to help carry in some of the larger items and weren’t bothered at all that they had to split their time between helping Susan and Gordon move while simultaneously helping Bob.

The short man who introduced himself as The Count wasn’t much help carrying anything, but he did spend a lot of time counting everything that they brought. While two other short men helped, but argued about where everything should go as Bert, the taller of the two, insisted that they should put the boxes neatly out of the way while the shorter, Ernie, believed that they could just set the boxes wherever and they’d be fine. The frog shook his head to stop them before they could intervene. “Unless you care,” he said. “Don’t bother trying to stop them. They can work it out. Kermit the Frog.”

“Gordon,” he said quickly. “This is Susan and Bob.”

“Hey Ho, welcome to the neighborhood,” Kermit answered. “You might want to get Big Bird out of the boxes.”

Gordon turned around and Susan was already over to the eponymous Big Bird. She gently took the box from him as he looked down at her earnestly. “Your dishes have flowers on them!” He said happily.

“Big Bird,” a voice at the door scolded. “Don’t go through people’s things unless they let you.”

“I’m sorry,” Big Bird apologized politely.

Susan gave him a reassuring smile. “That’s all right, Big Bird. Would you like to help me put the dishes away?”

“Oh boy! Can I?” Big Bird asked with a great deal of enthusiasm.

“Sure!” Susan said, her enthusiasm matching his own.

Gordon watched them for a moment with a soft smile before turning his attention to the men in the doorway. Susan was going to be a great mother one day. The man in the front of the little group held out a hand which Gordon made his way over to shake.

“I’m Mr. Hooper,” he said. “I own the other building. My husbands, Mr. Macintosh, who owns the produce cart, and Willy, who has a hot dog stand.”

Both of the other two joined Mr. Hooper in shaking hands as Susan looked at Willy, turning away from Big Bird for a moment. “Should we call you by your last name too?

“Willy is fine,” he assured her and nudged Mr. Macintosh as he continued. “I took Mac’s last name when we married and it would be a little confusing having two Mr. Macintoshs.”

“Pleased to meet all of you,” Gordon said easily. “I’m Gordon Robinson. Susan Johnson, my committed. Over by the window is my sister Olivia. And that’s our friend Bob Johnson.”

Mr. Hooper nodded. Mr. Macintosh made his way past his husbands and took Gordon’s hand. “Nice to meet all of you,” he said.

“Nice to meet you as well,” Gordon told him.

“Johnson and Johnson,” Willy said, eyes twinkling. “Are you two related?”

Gordon and Bob laughed.  
  
“As a matter of fact,” Bob said. “We did used to tell people that we were siblings in college.”

“Did they believe you?” Mr. Macintosh asked.

Bob shook his head. “No. But we had a lot of fun.”

“You’ll fit in well here then,” Mr. Macintosh told him as he shook his hand too.

Susan finished putting the last dishes into the cupboard and came over to say hello to their new neighbors as well.

Mr. Hooper told them how Sesame Street was different from other streets. How it was filled with magic that kept the street and its residents safe, but at the same time tended to invite strange happenings.

“The magic keeps out anyone who is dangerous or who thinks less of those who do not confirm to their worldview,” he explained.

“For example, people who look down on same gender triads.” Willy added, gesturing towards his husbands. “Or on couples who do not want a third.”

Gordon wasn’t worried about couples who didn’t want thirds, but he was very curious about the “strange happenings” Mr. Hooper had mentioned.

“Oh you’ll see,” Mr. Macintosh said. “Sometimes unusual people will turn up. We’ve had fairytale characters, fairy godpeople, the monsters of course…”  
  
Willy nudged his husband before turning back to the new residents. “Nothing dangerous ever happens on Sesame Street, but sometimes annoying things will. It’s a small price to pay for the safety that the Street Magic provides.”

“Sounds like fun. Maybe I’ll move in someday after I graduate college,” Olivia teased. “It seems to be the cool thing to do.”

Mr. Hooper nodded knowingly. “Everyone eventually finds the place they are meant to be. For some that place is Sesame Street.”

“You don’t need to make that decision yet,” Gordon told his sister. “But we’ll be happy if you decide to move here.”

Susan gave her sisterly hug. “It’ll be nice to have someone to help me with these two.”

Olivia grinned at that while Gordon and Bob both shot Susan an annoyed look. Still, it was a wonderful welcome and a good beginning for them. They just needed to get settled and then start their new lives.


	2. Chapter 1

A year later, Bob glanced up as the door shut quietly behind Susan and sighed. They had started out just calmly shutting it after the first couple of dates, then it had been more frustrated, but now it was almost resigned. He met his friends’ eyes. “Still no luck?”

“She was fine,” Gordon said, holding Susan to him. “We just didn’t feel anything.”

Bob felt disappointed for them, but tried to perk up. “Maybe the next one will work out?”

Susan sighed and moved away from Gordon for a moment, giving herself room to think. “It’s more like they feel like a crowd. When Gordon and I are alone, I don’t need anyone else there to feel completed because I already do. Anyone else just feels wrong.”

There was silence for a moment and Susan looked over, realizing what she’d said, but Gordon got there first. “I feel the same way about you.”

Susan moved back into his arms, kissing him as she did so. “What do we do now?”

“Well, it’s safe for us to just be a couple here,” Gordon said. “And I’d like that better than to keep trying for something that neither of us even want.”

Susan thought about the various arguments and found that she didn’t care about any of them. “What about children?”

“We can raise them together just fine,” Gordon said firmly. “Besides, if we actually need help, we’ll just draft Bob.”

“I worry about Bob eating correctly and not ending up in the hospital from tripping over the carpet and you’re putting him in charge of our children?” Susan said though she did wink at Bob to let him know she was somewhat joking. She would of course trust him with their children, but she did still worry about him. Bob ignored her.

“Hey, if you two want to do this, then I’m going to help however I can,” Bob promised. Susan leaned into Gordon and smiled at her friend.

“We know,” she said. “And we appreciate it.”

He joined their hug as they decided that this was the right choice. They’d let Mr. Hooper know in the morning, as well as the other two, and move on from there.

\--

To no one’s surprise, Mr. Hooper had just nodded. “If that’s what you want. What do you want to eat?”

After letting Mr. Hooper know, they went to find Mr. Macintosh and Willy to let them know. Bob followed for, probably unneeded, moral support. Susan took a breath and then spoke up. “Gordon and I have decided to be a couple. Permanently.”

The two older men looked at her and then Mr. Macintosh just grinned. “Welcome to the club.”

All three of the younger people blinked. “What?” Gordon managed to get out.

Willy sighed. “Mac and I didn’t want a third either.”

“But you’re married to Mr. Hooper!” Bob informed them, as if they might not have noticed they had married a third person.

“We know,” Mr. Macintosh said with a grin before looking more serious again. “When we were younger, we were still trying to get the street organized. A single man and a couple were less safe than a triad, even a single gender triad. We made a decision. Didn’t you ever wonder why Harold never goes along on date nights?”

“Or why we have two apartments?” Willy continued. “Or how Harold isn’t that affectionate with the two of us?”

“We were happy just being together,” Mr. Macintosh said. “We married Harold because it looked better at the time and it benefited all three of us to do it. At the end of the day, we’re like the two of you: Happy alone together.”

Willy leaned into him and Mr. Macintosh rested his head on the other’s shoulder. Gordon and Susan did the same with each other while Bob just hung back and smiled. His friends were safe here and with people who understood what they were going through. It might be a little harder to raise a family with two people instead of three, but he'd meant what he promised them and if anyone could be amazing parents on their own, it was Susan and Gordon. Any children they had were going to be extremely lucky. He glanced back and saw Mr. Hooper in the doorway with a smaller, just as sincere smile on his own face as he looked at them and his respect for the other man grew even larger. This was the best home they could have hoped for.

\--

They didn’t think much about it at first. Sure, they started to try to get pregnant, but they both knew that it would take some time. However, that time seemed longer and longer as nothing happened and the two started to worry about it. They made the doctor’s appointment to get checked out only to find out what they had dreaded: Susan wasn’t able to bear children.

“This sort of thing happens sometimes,” the doctor had told them. “But there’s a very good chance that once you find a third, assuming she’s a woman, that she’ll be able to carry so I wouldn’t be that concerned.”

Both of them had thanked the doctor, but the reassurance was lost on them both. They just sat in the car for a while, not going anywhere as they tried to adjust to the news. Finally, Susan spoke up. “It’s not like we married,” she reminded him. “We can still find a third. We’ll just look for women and our wife can carry the baby.”

She felt her heart constrict at the thought. It would be hard to see someone else carrying the baby especially when she knew she wouldn’t be able to love a third. The only person she loved was Gordon. Still, she also couldn’t be selfish. Gordon slammed his hand down on the steering wheel, startling her. “No way,” he said, his voice extremely soft and gentle after his quick outburst. He looked at her. “Either they’re your kids or we adopt. Our kids should be ours. Not a third that we can’t love’s. It should just be you, me, and the baby.”

“Gordon, I can’t have children,” she reminded him.

“I know. So we’ll adopt,” he reassured her, pulling her to him. Both of them knew they were looking at an uphill battle where they’d be at the end of the waiting lists, and even then, it was possible they might never be able to adopt unless they formed a triad. It was a battle both of them were willing to face. The two of them stayed there for a while longer, just needing the other to be close by as they mourned what they could never have and looked toward the future of finding an alternative.

\--

Between Susan’s nursing and Gordon’s teaching, the two began to quietly look into adopting as a couple without coming out as such. The information was not encouraging. Without a third they couldn’t get married, and that meant that while they might be able to adopt, it would often have to be in a case where there was no other choice, and their chances were very low. It wasn’t impossible, but the uphill battle they’d been looking at now looked to be steeper than they’d thought. At first, they hadn’t said much of anything to anyone else, just trying to situate their thoughts before they talked about it. It hadn’t been that long, a little over a week, when Bob found out something was going on.

He found one of the pamphlets on the coffee table when he visited and picked it up, glancing over it. Neither of his friends had ever spoken about adopting, but that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t make that choice. He mulled it over and found himself worrying even more. If this was a happy decision, they would have told him and if they hadn’t told him, then they were probably preoccupied and didn’t want him to know. He started to put it back and just pretend like he didn’t know when he glanced up and saw Gordon standing in the doorway.

“We would have told you,” Gordon started and Bob quickly cut him off..

“You didn’t need to,” he assured him, trying to stem Gordon’s guilt about whatever was going on. “But I’m here when you’re ready.”

Gordon paused and then headed back into the other room, having a quick conversation with Susan before coming back out. The three of them sat quietly for a few minutes before Gordon spoke up. “We can’t biologically have kids,” he said, squeezing Susan to him. “So, we’re looking into adopting.”

Bob looked at the pamphlet and then back at them. “What have you found?”

“That it is going to be difficult for us to,” Gordon answered.

“Nearly impossible,” Susan corrected, joining the conversation. “We still don’t want a third and that is making it very difficult.”

“It’s a terrible rule,” Bob reassured her. “You two would be better parents than most triads.”

“Thanks,” Susan said, taking the pamphlet from him. “Society just doesn’t see it that way.”

“They’re wrong. I’d tell them that if I thought it would do any good,” Bob said. “If there’s anything I can possibly do you’ll let me know right? I want you guys to be happy.”  
  
The couple smiled at him. “Thanks Bob,” Gordon said. “But I don’t think there’s anything you can do that will make it easier for us to adopt.”

Bob nodded. “You’re probably right, but there must be some way to get around the rules and adopt as a couple. I’ll think about it and let you know if I have any ideas.”

Susan and Gordon thanked him. He wouldn’t find a solution either, but it was comforting to know that he was on their side.

\--

A few weeks passed and Susan and Gordon expected Bob to have arrived at the same conclusion they did: Adoption as a couple was almost impossible. It was hard knowing that their chances of ever getting to be parents were minuscule but at least there were plenty of children on Sesame Street that they could play with.

Susan and Gordon looked up from what they were doing at the sound of their front door opening, just in time to see Bob dash into the room with a huge grin. “I have an idea!”

Gordon and Susan shrugged. Bob always had an idea or five. “Okay. What’s your idea?”

“I’ll be your third!” Bob said, beaming like he’d just won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

The couple stared at him. “What?” Gordon said, certain that he had misheard his friend.

“Is this some weird way of trying to ask us out?” Susan asked. “We’re flattered really, but…”

Bob shook his head. “It’s the solution to your problem. You can’t adopt without a third right?”

Susan and Gordon exchanged glances. “Right.”

“And you don’t want a third because you only want each other right?”  
  
“Right,” they said again, wondering where this was going.  
  
“Don’t you see?” Bob asked. “I’ll pretend to be your third and then you’ll be allowed to adopt a child.”

If it had been anyone else that they had been talking to, they would have assumed that he was joking. As it was, they knew that their friend wouldn’t make light of their situation which could only lead to the conclusion that he was absolutely serious. They were both quiet for a minute as he just looked at them, so proud of himself for thinking about this, and tried to find a gentle way to explain how this was never going to work.

“Bob,” Susan finally said, Gordon squeezing her hand in support. “What are you going to do when you fall in love?”

Bob looked surprised, as though it had never occurred to him that he had feelings too. He paused in thought over this and then the surprise shifted back into a smile. “I haven’t yet so it probably won’t happen.”

Susan continued. “Bob, we’re not that old. You could still meet someone and want to be with them. Gordon and I can’t take the chance of accidentally causing you to not be able to show your feelings or get married or find happiness for yourself. At least, not without getting a divorce, which would stop the adoption process since Gordon and I would be a couple again."

“I just won’t fall in love, Susan,” Bob assured her.

“Love doesn’t work like that,” Gordon reminded him. “You don’t just not fall in love.”

“I won’t,” Bob argued. Susan and Gordon shared a look that reassured each other that they absolutely didn’t believe him at all. “It’ll work.”

“We can’t just marry out of nowhere,” Gordon said, giving Susan a reassuring look that promised her he knew what he was doing. “That wouldn’t look right.”

“So we’ll pretend to date,” Bob answered. Susan quickly caught on to Gordon’s plan.

“It will have to take a while,” Susan added, pleased when Gordon gave her a quick nod.

“We want it to look real,” Gordon agreed. The couple were in agreement. All they had to do what pretend to date so that Bob could see what a terrible idea this was and eventually drop it. Yes, that meant that they also needed to remember that this meant that they weren’t going to be able to be parents, but they needed to make sure that Bob did what was best for himself and not give away his entire life for them.

“Right,” Bob agreed. “And then we’ll go from there. So, how should we start?”

Susan privately thought that the best place to start was a list of options for what to tell Bob when he realized that they were right and that his idea was terrible. But she couldn’t tell Bob that without him getting defensive again.

“If we’re going to pretend to date,” Gordon said. “We should probably talk about how affectionate to be. We don’t want people to realize it’s fake, but at the same time I’d rather not be putting on a show. And no offense Bob, but I really don’t want to kiss you unless it’s necessary.”

Bob laughed. “None taken Gordon. I’m sure I don’t compare to Susan.”

Susan smiled at her friend. “Thanks. Gordon does have a point though. How are we going to handle that?”

“We’re very tactile with each other anyway,” Bob said. “We wouldn’t need to fake that. Besides, you two aren’t the first couple I’ve ever dated you know. They were always cuddlier with each other than with me too.”

Susan and Gordon looked at him sympathetically. “Bob,” Susan started.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Bob assured them. “They’d been together longer, that’s all. But if you and Gordon are more affectionate with each other than with me, I doubt anyone will think anything of it.”

That was nice, Susan thought. Even if it wouldn’t take very long for Bob to realize how terrible his idea was, she didn’t want to have to pretend to be affectionate with him. He was right that they were very tactile, but it had always been clearly platonic. Pretending that it was something else wouldn’t feel right.

“So,” Gordon said, breaking into the conversation. “We’ll just handle this like we did in college. It wouldn’t be the first time someone mistook us for being a triad. We can just take turns doing what we each like. Since there’s a symphony in town, we’ll start with that.”

Bob’s eyes lit up and Susan just smiled over at Gordon in way that let him know that she was in no way fooled that they wouldn’t have gone with him anyway. Still, it was a good place to start. Bob grinned back. “Then a picnic for Susan,” he said firmly. She touched his arm in appreciation.

“And then the museum for Gordon,” she finished. She hoped that he would get the idea out of his head sooner than later, of course, but at least they’d have fun while they waited for him to give up.

\--

Pretending to date really was about the same as hanging out together. They did things that were fun for all three of them, talked about everything, patted each other on the back during hugs, and Susan and Gordon would cuddle while Bob smiled affectionately at the pair of them. The only real difference they noticed was that sometimes either Susan or Gordon would find Bob holding their hand.  
  
“I’m trying to make this look real,” Bob reminded them. “It’s going to look suspicious if we never hold hands.”

The couple just accepted it and wondered which would happen first, Bob realizing it was bad idea, or someone on Sesame Street asking what was going on.

Apparently, going on one date was something that wasn’t that noticeable on Sesame Street as none of their three older friends said a word. Mr. Hooper began to look at them with a bit more bemusement after the second time. The third time, however, all three of the older men were exchanging glances at each other.

When they got back from the museum they found the older men waiting for them. “Have a nice date?” Mr. Hooper asked, slightly emphasizing the last word. It had the effect that he was looking for as all of them looked slightly sheepish. “Now, if the three of you want to be together, that’s fine. But considering you just told us that you wanted to be a couple, you have to understand we’re confused.”

“And concerned,” Willy added. “We want to make sure we didn’t make you feel like you had to force yourself into a third.”

“It’s not like that,” Bob said quickly. Gordon took over.

“Susan and I can’t have children,” he said quietly.

“And couples can’t adopt,” Mr. Hooper finished. The two nodded.

“So, I’m going to pretend to be their third,” Bob said proudly. “That way, they can adopt.”

There was silence for a moment as Bob’s words were taken in. Willy managed to come to his senses before the other two. “Are you three sure this is a good idea?” He asked. He shared a look with Mr. Macintosh who nodded back. Mr. Hooper gave a quick nod as well, heading toward Bob.

“We should talk,” he said firmly as Mr. Macintosh and Willy made their way over to Susan and Gordon. “Now, what do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m helping them,” Bob answered. “You did the same thing.”

“What we did benefitted all of us,” Mr. Hooper said. “And I was older than you are now. What are you going to do if you fall in love?”

“I just won’t fall in love,” he answered. Mr. Hooper stared at him as if waiting for him to continue on how he was going to make that work. When it was clear that Bob wasn’t going to continue, Mr. Hooper did instead.

“That is not how it works,” he said. “If it was, it would work the other way and Gordon and Susan would have a third who they just decided to fall in love with. Love doesn’t care what you decide.”

“I can do it,” Bob said firmly.

Mr. Hooper glanced over toward Mr. Macintosh and Willy who were having their own conversation with Susan and Gordon. He saw the same look of trepidation on their faces that he felt before they looked a little calmer. Whatever they were thinking, at least Willy and Mac seemed to feel better about it.

“You can’t,” Mr. Hooper said firmly. “But I also can’t stop you. But Bob, what are you going to do when they do adopt this child? When the three of us made this decision, we didn’t add in a child. That child isn’t going to understand this for a long time.”

Bob’s entire demeanor softened. “I would have already helped them. I’m just helping a little more now.”

That, at least, did make that issue less of a concern. The only concern left was what Bob was giving up and, as Mr. Hooper had mentioned, he couldn’t very well stop him. He sighed. “You’re trying to do a good thing for your friends,” he said. “But I still think you’ll fall in love.”

“I won’t,” Bob answered, trying to reassure the older man. Mr. Hooper just motioned with his head that they were done and joined Mr. Macintosh and Willy as he watched them leave.

“This isn’t going to end well,” Mr. Hooper grumbled.

“They’re trying to wait him out,” Willy explained, looking a little amused. Mr. Hooper looked at him in surprise. “They’re waiting for him to figure out that this isn’t a good idea.”

“Hopefully he will. Soon,” Mr. Hooper said before giving a baleful glare at Mr. Macintosh. The other man backed up a bit, but Willy’s look toward him wasn’t any better.

“Remember when you came up with this idea and you said that there were no possible drawbacks?” Willy asked.

“We wouldn’t be involving anyone?” Mr. Hooper added.

“That we weren’t going to have children, so who could it affect?” Willy asked. Mr. Macintosh put up his hands.

“How was I supposed to know we were going to practically adopt three kids?” He asked. “It didn’t affect Big Bird!”

“This wouldn’t be a problem if you two would stop adopting everything that moved,” Mr. Hooper harrumphed. Both Mr. Macintosh and Willy laughed at that, knowing full well who was the one who kept causing that trouble, but Mr. Hooper was too busy hoping that Gordon and Susan would pull off their plan to hear them.

\--

Four months later they were still fake dating. Bob hadn’t realized how bad his plan was, still convinced that it was brilliant. The strange thing, was that Susan and Gordon were starting to agree with him. He had not wavered in his commitment to helping them get married so that they could adopt, and had kept his promise not to fall for anyone. They hadn’t even seen him look at anyone, of any gender. Considering that in college he had had a new crush nearly once a week, that was surprising.

They still didn’t want Bob to throw away his chance at love on them, but sometimes they talked about how it would be if they did go along with his plan and adopted a baby. A little boy would be nice, or maybe a little girl. Even though they knew that talking about it would just make it harder to accept that a child was something they couldn’t have, the subject kept coming up. They wanted to be parents and they wanted it badly.

Gordon set down the dinner plate for Susan, squeezing her arm as he did so. Bob was having a late music lesson and wouldn’t be joining them, which meant that Gordon thought it was a good time to talk to Susan about what was going on. “It’s been four months,” he said. “We didn’t want him to ruin his life, but he’s also not dating.”

“That doesn’t mean that he won’t have the chance to,” Susan argued. “The right people are eventually going to come along for him.”

“Not if he refuses to look,” Gordon answered. “He is trying so hard to prove this to us by not crushing on anyone that it’s ruining his chances anyway. And I’m worried that just telling him we aren’t doing it anymore isn’t going to help.”

Susan sighed. “We can’t just marry him.”

“Maybe we can,” Gordon answered. Susan’s head shot up.

“Gordon!”

“Hear me out,” he said. “Do you really think that the people who Bob belongs with wouldn’t understand?”

Susan’s protests died on her tongue as he said it. “But it won’t be fair to them either.”

“Maybe,” he said. “Or maybe they’ll be fine with it. We don’t want him to ruin his life, but he’s set on this and he’s not going to let it go. We’ll figure out how to handle it when he eventually falls in love. If we were anywhere else, I wouldn’t suggest it.”

“If we were anywhere else,” Susan reminded him. “We wouldn’t have taken him up on it to begin with.”

Gordon nodded. He squeezed her hand. Her eyes met his, both in understanding. This wasn’t the best course to take, but Bob had definitely proved that he was dedicated. “So that’s it,” he said. “Unless he changes his mind…”

“He won’t,” Susan sighed affectionately.

“Then we’ll go forward with it,” he said. He moved around behind her, pulling her to him. She leaned her head back into his chest. “And we’ll have a baby.”

“A baby,” she repeated without any of the pain that had followed that word for the past months. It sounded wonderful. “You are going to be a great father.”

“And you are going to be a great mother,” Gordon answered back.

They finished dinner and waited for Bob to come back. They wouldn’t hurry through this, they decided before he got there, but if they could carry on through the end of the year, then that would be that, and they’d get engaged. They let Bob know their plan when he returned. He looked thrilled over the agreement, and pulled both of them into a hug.

\--

And as the months flew by, he managed to keep it up. Gordon and Susan continued to quietly work to figure out how to handle it when Bob eventually fell in love, as they knew he would, but when the year was up, neither of them tried to argue with him.

“Are you sure?” Susan asked, one more time. Bob pulled her into a hug.

“I’m sure,” he said. Gordon pulled both of them to him.

“Good,” he said. “Bob, do you want to marry us?”

“Your proposal to Susan was a lot more romantic,” Bob teased. Gordon looked at him.

“Do you want your ring or not?” Gordon teased, holding it behind his back. Susan was starting to regret her decision to marry either of them.

“Gordon!” She said and took the ring from him. “Bob, will you marry us?”

“I will,” Bob said, taking the ring that she offered. Susan sighed.

“Three future parents and only one of us is responsible,” she scolded. Both of the men quickly hugged her and she leaned into them. She loved Gordon and he loved her back and they both had the best friend they could have asked for. She was lucky and more importantly, their future child was going to be the luckiest baby in the world.

\--

Next came all the logistical decisions. Would Bob need to move in with Susan and Gordon? What were they going to tell their families? What would the wedding look like? And any number of other questions that needed answering.

Obviously the best place to start was by telling people that they were engaged. Mr. Hooper, Mr. Macintosh, and Willy were not terribly pleased, and were still convinced that it was a terrible idea. But they also knew that they couldn’t stop them, and the three of them promised to do everything they could to help the new triad.

Big Bird was thrilled. “A wedding on Sesame Street? I can’t wait!”

After telling their friends on the street they called their parents. All nine parents were thrilled and promised to spread the word to the rest of the family. They didn’t tell their parents that Bob was only pretending; They were pretty sure that their parents wouldn’t understand.

“Are we going to keep the fact that Bob is only pretending to be our third a secret from everyone?” Susan asked. “Mr. Hooper, Mr. Macintosh, and Willy already know. I’m sure there are other people who would be on our side.”

Gordon looked thoughtful, “I don’t see any reason to keep it secret as long as it won’t affect our chances of getting to adopt. And the more people who know, the less pretending we’ll have to do.”

“Not everyone will be accepting though,” Bob reminded them. “We should only tell people the truth if we’re sure they won’t react badly.”

The other two agreed and they began making a list of people they would tell. Their siblings they knew would support them no matter what. So Susan and Bob’s respective brothers and Olivia were quickly added to the list.

Bob wanted to tell his uncle. “Uncle Wally is my favorite uncle, I don’t want to hide from him. Besides, he’s always told me that he doesn’t believe in ‘traditional relationships’ anyway. If anyone is going to support us, it’s Uncle Wally.”

Aside from those relatives, the only other people they found it necessary to tell were some of the other residents of the street. The kids didn’t need to know and probably wouldn’t care much anyway.

When it came to the adults it was decided to only tell their friends. They didn’t want to hide on their own street, but it was safe space where no one would bother them if they noticed that the marriage didn’t follow all of the “rules.”

“It’s not anyone’s business but ours if this marriage is real or not,” Susan said leaning into Gordon. “We only tell the people we want to tell and leave everyone else out of it.

When Susan told her brother, his only question was, “Did you tell Mom, Mama, and Dad?” When he learned that she hadn’t and wasn’t planning to, he promised that if she ever decided to do so, he would have her back.

Bob’s brothers were also easy to talk to. Even if his younger brother, Minneapolis, was difficult to track down. “You do you,” he told Bob when he finally got ahold of him. “I don’t have much time to talk. I’m flying to Cairo in an hour to look for The Harp of Yrpianne. I’ll try to make it to the wedding though."

Rupert merely said, “If that’s what you want.” And changed the topic to his job search.

Calling Uncle Wally was an adventure. “Is this about how you aren’t really in love with Susan and Gordon?” Uncle Wally asked.

Bob stared at the phone. “Wait. You knew?”

Uncle Wally laughed, “You can't con a con, Bob. I notice everything. You’re doing this because they can’t get married?"

Bob nodded before he remembered he was using the phone. “Yes. It’s the only way they’ll be allowed to adopt children.”

“Truly a noble cause,” Uncle Wally said without a hint of sarcasm. “What can I do to help? You need complicated stories to explain how you met?”

“We met in college. Everyone already knows that, Uncle Wally.”

“Explaining how you fell in love?” Uncle Wally asked enthusiastically.

“We’re just saying that sometimes you realize what you’ve been looking for was always there.”

“Tips for how to not accidentally tell everyone the truth in the middle of the wedding?”

Bob sighed but also knew that Uncle Wally had a point on that one. “That would be great.”

“All right! You came to the right person, Bob. Tall tales are my specialty, but I’m also a master of believablity.” Uncle Wally began creating ideas with a great deal of excitement.

Gordon and Susan, overhearing the conversation, exchanged glances and wondered once again what they had gotten themselves into.

\--

About a week later, Olivia came to visit.

“I’m so happy for you guys!” She called down the street before she even said hello.

Gordon, Susan, and Bob ran to meet her, all three smiling widely.

“Thanks Olivia!” Bob said as they reached her.

Gordon hugged her first, “Hey little sis. You didn’t tell us you were coming to visit.”

“I know, but I was too excited. It’s not everyday your big brother gets engaged. Susan!” She turned to hug the other woman, “We’re gonna be sisters!”

Susan laughed but hugged Olivia back just as enthusiastically. “We are!”

Then Olivia turned to Bob. “And Bob! I guess we really are going to be in-laws!”

Bob laughed as he gave her a hug. “We are!”

Olivia grinned at the three of them. “This is so cute. You look and look for the right person and then you find out they were there the whole time and you fall in love with your best friend.”

The newly engaged triad stopped smiling.  
  
“Gordon!” Susan hissed, taking hold of his arm. “You were supposed to tell her.”

“I thought one of you had,” Gordon said looking puzzled.

“Why would we tell her?” Bob asked. “She’s _your_ sister.”

“Yeah but…”

“Tell me what?” Olivia broke in, clearly confused as to what had happened.

“Um, Liv…” Gordon started. “There’s something I forgot to explain.”

He led her a few steps away from the other two so he could talk without them adding in.

“This isn’t real. We’re not actually in love.”  
  
Olivia stared. “But you and Susan…”

“Oh Susan and I are in love,” Gordon said quickly, realizing what his sister was thinking. “But just with each other. Not with Bob.”

Olivia’s excitement deflated a bit. “Then why…”

“We can’t have kids,” Gordon said once again. “Susan and I. And Bob… He’s the best friend I’ve ever had Olivia. He’s willing to be our third so we can adopt. We tried to talk him out of it, but he’s determined.” Gordon’s voice shook very slightly as he told Olivia how much he appreciated what Bob was willing to give up for them.

Olivia hugged her brother. “I’m sorry you have to do all this, but I’m so glad that you could find a way to be allowed to adopt.”

Gordon hugged Olivia back, blinking rapidly. A few moments later they made their way back over to Bob and Susan. While Gordon went to kiss Susan and assure her that Olivia understood, Olivia walked over to Bob and flung her arms around him.

“Thank you,” she said. “For making Susan and Gordon happy.”  
  
Bob smiled. “They’re my best friends. I’d do anything for them.”

“I know you would, Brother-in-Law,” Olivia winked and nudged him.

Bob laughed, “Do you know how these two proposed to me?”

She shook her head. “No. But I take it it’s hilarious.”

“They just asked if I was still sure I wanted to marry them and gave me my ring,” Bob said, showing her his hand. “Now if _I_ had done the proposing, it would have been much fancier. There would have been a parade. And a choreographed dance routine with backup dancers. And of course a brand new song…”  
  
Olivia giggled as Bob continued to tell her about his ideal proposal.  
  
Gordon looked at Susan, “He’s kidding right?”

“I don’t know,” Susan said. “But I’m really glad we were the ones who did the proposing.”

“Me too,” Gordon said as Bob demonstrated a dance step and nearly fell over.

\--

“Do you need any help with wedding planning?” Olivia asked later that day while the four had dinner together.

“Now that you mention it,” Gordon said with a smile. “I was wondering if you would stand up for me. Be my best lady so to speak. I would ask Bob here.” He poked his friend in the side. “But that’s not really an option.”

Olivia jumped up and went around the table to hug her brother yet again. “I’d love to!”

Susan laughed, “I guess it’s a good thing we’re marrying Bob. I would have asked him to stand up for _me_ . Now I just have to ask my brother instead.”

“What about you Bob?” Olivia asked. “Have you decided who to ask? Since I know you’d want Susan and Gordon if you weren’t marrying them.”

“We should all stand up for each other,” Bob joked. “I’m going to ask my brothers. I can’t pick just one so I’m asking them both. And that way if Minneapolis ends up not being able to make it, I’ll still have Rupert.”

Planning continued throughout Olivia’s visit and long after she had left. They decided that they wanted a simple ceremony on Sesame Street where they could make sure that everything was the way they wanted it. And if they did accidentally tell their families the truth, they had enough people on their side to support them through the awkward conversations.

\--

Even once the wedding planning was done there were still questions that would need to be answered. Where they were going to live after the wedding was a big one. Susan and Gordon had the bigger apartment, so it would make sense for Bob to move in with them, but the three of them weren’t sure that was a good solution.

“I love you guys,” Bob said not for the first time that day. “But I really need my own space. If I learned anything being roommates with Gordon in college it was that.”

Gordon and Susan agreed. “You know you’re always welcome here, but not _having_ to be together all the time will probably be easier for all of us.”

Gordon nudged Susan, “I can think of a few reasons not to have Bob around all the time.”

Susan giggled while Bob looked embarrassed.

“So we’ll have two apartments,” Susan said calmly. “Mr. Hooper doesn’t live with his husbands either.”

“What if people notice I’m in my apartment a lot?” Bob asked. “I can claim it’s for lessons but that’s only part of the day. And won’t people wonder why it looks lived-in?”

The three older men, who had been sitting nearby, spoke up.

“You’re always in Susan and Gordon’s apartment anyway,” Mr. Hooper said, rolling his eyes.

“Besides,” Mr. Macintosh added. “People aren’t as observant as you think.”

Willy agreed. “Just remember to make the bed and keep everything tidy. No one is going to question it. Why shouldn’t your ‘work’ apartment be furnished?”

“What about people from the adoption agency?” Gordon spoke up, suddenly worried that if they did the wrong thing they wouldn’t be allowed to adopt. “They’ll notice everything.”

“We’ll make it believable,” Mr. Hooper assured them. “Put some of your things in Bob’s apartment and some of his in yours and it won’t be as obvious.”

“And think up some reasonable answers to questions,” Willy added. “‘We’re going to use the apartment as a guest room once the baby is here,’ for example.”

“‘If I keep food here then I don’t always have to go back across the street for lunch,’” Mac offered.

Bob started to smile, “I lived here before we got married, and since I was keeping the apartment I just left a lot of my stuff alone.”

Susan patted Gordon’s shoulder, “You see? We’ll figure it out. No one is going to stop us from adopting. We _will_ be parents,” she said positively.

Gordon smiled at her, “Thanks Susan. You’re right. There’s no use in worrying.”

“What about last names?” Bob asked a few moments later. “Are we all keeping our own name or all sharing one name?”

“If we all shared, which name would we use?” Gordon asked. “Robinson or Johnson?”

Susan and Bob exchanged cheeky grins.

“You should take our name Gordon,” Susan said. “We’re both Johnson, you’re the odd one out.”

“Two against one,” Bob added, doing his best to look innocent.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Gordon teased back. “I think you should both take my name. Sort of welcome me to the family."

“Welcoming you to the family would mean you taking our name,” Susan said, smirking.

“Yeah. Why should we take your name when we already share?” Bob asked.

The three continued teasing back and forth.

“All joking aside,” Gordon said finally. “I really don’t want to change my name.”  
  
Bob nodded, “I don’t really want to change mine either. I will if you two think it’s necessary but I like being Bob Johnson.”

They both turned to Susan. “What do you think about names?” Gordon asked her. “Do you want to keep your name or be Susan Robinson? Either way two of us share a last name.”

Susan didn’t need to think about it. “I want to take your name. You’re the real husband. I love you and I want to share my name with you.”

Gordon pulled Susan in for a kiss while Bob smiled.

“And if anyone asks,” Susan said after she pulled away from Gordon. “I’ll just remind them that I already share a name with Bob. This way I can share with you both.”

“I read somewhere that ‘Robert’ and ‘Robinson’ mean the same thing.” Bob said. “So I guess I’ll share a name with you guys that way too.”

Gordon gave them both a hug. “Bob Johnson, Gordon Robinson, and Susan Johnson Robinson. I like the way that sounds.”

Bob smiled. “Me too.”

“Susan Johnson Robinson,” Susan repeated to herself. “Susan Robinson. Mrs. Susan Robinson. That’s nice.”

“It is nice,” Mr. Hooper agreed. He glanced at the other two and then looked at the three of them. “Have you thought about vows?”

The younger trio shook their heads no. “We hadn’t even picked out names until a minute ago,” Bob joked.

“If you want, you can use the same vows we did,” Mr. Hooper said, handing over a piece of paper. The three of them looked it over and they quickly nodded. Mr. Hooper looked at Bob in particular. “It won’t be a lie.”

“It won’t,” Bob agreed. Gordon squeezed both of them.

“Thank you,” he said to the three older men. Mr. Hooper nodded.

“You have a wedding to plan,” he said as a polite way to leave, taking the other two with him as he did so.

\--

“Olivia!” Gordon half-growled at his sister. “Just let me go see him. Rupert and Minneapolis know the truth and I’m really just marrying Susan. It doesn’t count.”

“No,” she said, standing in the doorway, pleased she was almost as tall as her brother. “If you need to talk to him, then call him. But you are not jinxing your own wedding!”

“Olivia…”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“...Give me the phone then,” he grumbled.

\--

Gordon was going to have trouble making the phone call, he’d find, as Susan was already on the phone, her brother just rolling his eyes and shaking his head which she promptly ignored.

“I’ve been feeling anxious all day, Bob!” She said, clutching the phone. “What if that means I don’t love him as much as I think I do?”

“Susan,” Bob reassured her gently. “You love Gordon. You only love Gordon. That’s why I’m marrying you two because in the entire world, you two couldn’t even find one other person you both wanted. That sounds like love.”

“It does,” she said, starting to calm down.

“And I’ll be up there with both of you,” he reminded her. “And so will our brothers and sister.”

“You’re right,” she said, visibly calmer. “I just want this to go right.”

“It will,” he assured her. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yes,” she said. “Why?”

“Because Olivia just stopped by to see when I was getting off the phone,” he answered. “I need to calm Gordon down now.”

“He’s worried too?” Susan asked.

“You both love each other and you know it, but getting married is still something new,” he said.

“Tell him I love him?” Susan asked.

“Promise,” Bob assured her. She hung up and looked at her brother.

“I’m ready,” she said firmly. He just laughed.

\--

Bob leaned back, having calmed Gordon down with a similar talk and glancing at the clock as Rupert started pushing him toward the door. It was only once he was down the aisle that he realized he hadn’t had a chance to panic. He knew that Minneapolis and Rupert would give him reassuring looks if he needed them to, but he glanced over to see the calm he’s given both Susan and Gordon. If they believed it would be okay, then so would he.

Almost before he knew it, it was time for them to make their vows to each other.

“Do you, Gordon, take Susan and Bob to be your spouses? In good times and bad, to love and care for each other always?”

“I do.”

“Do you, Susan, take Gordon and Bob to be your husbands? In good times and bad, to love and care for each other always?”

“I do.”

“Do you, Bob, take Susan and Gordon to be your spouses? In good times and bad, to love and care for each other always?”

“I do.”

“Then with the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husbands and wife. You may kiss one another.”

It felt weird kissing Gordon and Susan, even just this once, but Olivia assured them that no one would have been able to tell when they asked her later. The three held each other. Yes, Susan and Gordon had fallen in love and would never romantically fall in love with anyone else, but that wasn’t important. It didn’t matter that they didn’t love Bob the way they loved each other. They still loved him. And this felt right.

\--

Bob tried not to wince as yet another relative tried to push him into dancing with Gordon and Susan. Again. He had quickly pushed to dance with everyone at least once, including the minister, in order to make sure that Susan and Gordon could dance with each other. Unfortunately, his excuses were running low at this point.

“Hey! I want to dance with my new brother again.” Bob relaxed as Olivia grabbed him after she spoke. She was his new favorite sibling and that was that. The woman who had been trying to push him toward Susan and Gordon gave Olivia a dirty look.

“Goodness, let him dance with his spouses, Olivia,” she scolded. This woman, on the other hand, was his least favorite new relative.

“He’s got the rest of his life to dance with them,” Olivia answered, dragging him back out. Bob gave what he hoped was an apologetic look to his new relative before pulling Olivia in to dance.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“It’ll be over soon,” she reassured him. “Are you going to make it?”

Bob looked over to see Susan and Gordon dancing, their love for each other nearly an aura around them and his expression completely softened. “Look how happy they are,” he said as an answer. Several of the guests saw the look and there were several expressions of endearment over his expression. He ignored all of them. Olivia looked over and then back at him.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Bob just smiled at her and danced. Somehow they managed to get through the entire ceremony and reception without telling their families the full truth by accident. Somehow, Olivia managed to convince her three new brothers-in-law to help her and Bob out. Somehow, they managed to keep Susan and Gordon dancing together through the night. And if all of that wasn’t enough of a miracle, then the three of them standing together, enjoying the night air after all of the festivities had ended, was.

\--

Several months later, it felt natural for Gordon to say to little Sally, “this is my wife Susan and our husband Bob.”

Even though it wasn’t a traditional marriage, Gordon enjoyed having Bob for a husband. And he adored being able to call Susan his wife. He had a ring on his finger, and they were in touch with an adoption agency. The list to adopt was still very long. Babies were popular and they were told that the wait might take years. But they had a chance now and if they waited long enough, they would finally be able to adopt.


	3. Chapter 2

“At least we only have three adult ‘kids.’” The three older men liked to say to each other when being parental figures was getting annoying.

Two years after the wedding this was destined to change, as another group of young adults moved to Sesame Street within a few days of each other. Two were college students. Maria Figueroa, who had recently moved to New York from Puerto Rico, was still trying to figure out what she wanted to be when she grew up. For now she had taken a part-time job in the temporary lending library that was filling the need for a library while the big library was being remodeled.

The other young student, David Taylor, knew exactly what he wanted to do. “I’m going to go to law school after I graduate college,” He told everyone proudly. “Grandma Harriet says it will be good to have a lawyer for a grandson. In case she gets arrested at a protest.” He laughed as the others stared. “She hasn’t yet, but she’s involved in a lot of causes.”

There was also the primer couple of Luis and Rafael, along with Rafael’s eight-year-old nephew Antonio. Antonio’s parents were in the military and Rafael was in charge of his nephew until the next year when Antonio’s mother finished her enlistment and could take care of her son again.

The two men were very handy and spent much of their time making improvements around the street. They rented the space currently occupied by the lending library and made plans to open a fix-it shop.

Much to the surprise of the older men, Susan and Gordon seemed to have decided that they were going to be parental figures to the younger adults. They were very good at it. Bob also decided to try to be a father figure to Sesame Street’s newest residents. Unfortunately, he was terrible at it.

“Remember when we talked about how to be a responsible parent?” Susan asked. Bob looked at her sheepishly but she continued before he could answer. “Where on that list I gave you was ‘join in’?”

“Well, nowhere, but it was a good idea,” Bob tried. Susan gave him a stern look.

“No it wasn’t,” she said. “Which is why you should have stopped them.”

“Right,” he said. “I’ll do better next time.”

“No you won’t,” Gordon said in amusement to them both. “You’ll try, but you’ll want to go along with it again.”

“Gordon! Don’t encourage him!” Susan scolded. “He can handle it. Just really try, Bob.”

“I will,” he said eagerly. Gordon was more often right than Susan when it came to the others, but any hope that Susan had disappeared once Linda moved in.

\--

Linda arrived shortly before The Fix-It Shop opened. She was going to be the head librarian at the big library. Susan had always thought that librarians were responsible and quiet. Linda was certainly quiet, but responsible? Not a bit.

Bob adored her. It was easy to see which of the new residents was his favorite. She was an even bigger troublemaker than he was. The fact that she was Deaf and he only knew the basics of American Sign Language deterred them not at all.

“Linda taught me the sign for ‘trouble.’” Bob told Susan and Gordon, demonstrating.

The two exchanged glances. Bob’s plan to help them parent the younger adults seemed to have vanished. He hadn’t been good at it before, and now he wasn’t even trying. Even worse, Bob didn't seem to notice, which annoyed Susan even further and amused Gordon.

“Linda is so cool,” Bob was saying. “I’m really glad she moved in. We’ve been having so much fun.”

“It’s going to be Linda,” Susan said quietly to Gordon.

Gordon nodded, knowing exactly what Susan was thinking.

They had wondered whether Bob might end up falling for any of the newcomers, and it was becoming very apparent that he and Linda were going to fall in love.

“We need to tell her,” Gordon said to Susan a few days later, watching Linda and Bob look longingly at each other across the arbor. “If we don’t tell her soon we’re going to cause a lot of mental anguish.”

Susan caught on quickly to what Gordon meant. “If she falls in love with him but thinks he married us for love….”

Gordon nodded, “And knowing Bob, he’ll forget to tell her until after he confesses his feelings, and by that point even if he tells her the truth she won’t believe that he’s available.”

“We should tell Maria, Luis, and David too,” Susan said. “I almost feel like we’re hiding things from our children by not telling them.”

Gordon agreed. “Let’s get Bob and go tell the four of them.”

They found Bob waving off the last of his orchestra students.

“Hi Honeys,” he said with a wink.

Susan ignored that. “We’re going to tell Linda now.”

Bob opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again when Gordon spoke.

“And Luis, David, and Maria,” Gordon added.

Bob nodded. “Okay. Why right now?”

It took everything Susan had not to roll her eyes. “It’s just time,” she said finally. “It feels like we’re lying to our children.”

Bob squeezed her arm, “It’s okay. They won’t think any less of us for not telling them right away.”

The other two smiled at him. “Thanks Bob.”

They gathered the four “kids” together in Hooper’s Store. It was a good place for a quiet conversation. Besides, this way Mr. Hooper was available to support them.

“What did you want to talk to us about?” Maria asked when they had all sat down. Mr. Hooper watched from where he was, but didn’t involve himself. Bob glanced at Susan and Gordon, none of the three of them knowing exactly how to begin. After a few, long seconds, Gordon spoke up.

“When Susan and I first got together, we tried looking for a third,” he started slowly. Susan squeezed his arm as Bob held her hand in support. They would all support each other right now in case this ended badly. “We tried dating, but every person we found felt like an intruder. None of them felt right. Susan and I felt right together. Alone.”

Susan picked up where he left off. “And when we realized that, we decided to just not look for a third anymore. We could handle ourselves, if we needed help raising a child then Bob would help us, not to mention the rest of Sesame Street. And we were happier that way.”

Fortunately, the four were keeping quiet because Susan couldn’t continue the next part. Gordon started, but then looked to Bob to help. He quickly came to his husband’s rescue. “Susan and Gordon can’t have children and adoption agencies are picky on who they let adopt. So, in order to help them adopt, I married them,” Bob said, trying not to sound too proud of himself for the idea.

“You married them,” David said. “To help them have a baby.”

“Help them adopt a baby!” Bob said quickly, shooting Susan an apologetic look for the quickness of his response. He hadn’t needed to as she and Gordon looked equally quick to correct it.

“Right,” David said, not seeing the problem in how he phrased it at all. “But you don’t love him.”

“We do!” Gordon and Susan protested immediately. “But platonically. Not romantically.”

“Can you do that?” David asked. Maria beamed at the three from where she was sitting, still remembering to sign to Linda as she spoke. She’d taken it upon herself to help translate during the conversation since the married trio had looked so nervous.

“Of course they can!” She exclaimed. “They did and that is the sweetest thing I’ve heard.”

“ _It is_.” Agreed Linda. “ _And all of you live together too._ ”

“Well,” Bob said sheepishly. “I live in my own apartment and we just made it look like I live with Susan and Gordon.”

“But you’re always there,” Maria argued.

“That’s because Susan and Gordon are there,” Bob answered as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

“What happens if you fall in love?” Luis asked, being the only one of the four to be in a relationship at the moment. Bob brushed it off.

“I won’t,” he answered confidently.

“We have plans in place for that,” Gordon assured Luis, trying not to be sarcastic toward Bob.

They explained everything. Why they had made this choice, how they had agreed to make it work, what decisions had happened. The only thing they didn’t explain was the full reason why they had decided to tell them now. That would have to wait until Bob and Linda had figured it out on their own. “We’re telling you now because Linda and Bob are falling in love,” would have only ended in denials.

Three of the four seemed to understand now that they knew all the details, but David still had a question.

“What do you think about this?” David asked Mr. Hooper, turning to face him. “I take it you already knew.”

“I think it’s none of my business,” Mr. Hooper said before continuing. “But we supported them. Especially considering we put the idea in Bob’s head.”

“What?” David asked.

“Years ago, Mr. Macintosh and Willy wanted to be together. I married them for safety reasons. Bob did the same for Susan and Gordon but for other reasons,” he answered. “Question answered?”

“Yes?” David asked.

Mr. Hooper nodded, giving Gordon, Susan and Bob a slower and encouraging nod before going back to staying out of it. David quickly assured the trio that they had his blessing as well, having been curious over the whole thing but not wanting them to think that he hadn’t wanted them to be happy.

Gordon and Susan relaxed. One problem down. The second was one that Bob and Linda would have to find out on their own. Regardless of how long that took and how many headaches it caused.

\--

Life went on on Sesame Street. Rafael and Antonio left. When Antonio’s mother finished her enlistment she moved back to New Mexico and sent for her son. Rafael discovered that the most important thing to him was staying close to his nephew and went with him. Luis however, found that the Fix-It Shop was more important to him than his relationship. The break-up was amicable and it was clear that the two would remain friends.

Mr. Hooper’s previous assistant moved away and David was hired to help run the store while he went to school part-time. Maria took a short-lived job as a construction worker before Luis hired her to take Rafael’s place in the Fix-It Shop.

Maria and David started dating. They hadn’t been together very long yet, but everyone was sure that eventually they would start looking for a third.

“Unless they also don’t want one,” Gordon muttered to Susan.

Susan shushed him, but laughed.

Bob and Linda continued to fall for each other, much to the amusement of Susan and Gordon. They knew this could potentially throw a wrench in their plan to adopt, but it was hilarious watching the two tiptoe around the subject of their feelings.

They spent a lot of time talking. Bob laughing as Linda taught him new signs for funny words, and Linda giggling at Bob’s attempts looking more like signs for completely different concepts.

And they continued to cause trouble. Yesterday, Susan had had to talk the two of them out of trying to build a scale model of the Eiffel Tower out of empty cereal boxes in the arbor. “What if it falls on the children?” She asked them, before they realized the possible consequences of this plan, and settled for making a smaller model out of toothpicks instead.

Susan noticed Bob working on a song which he tried to hide from her, but she had seen the word “Linda” before he hid it behind his back.

Gordon found Linda looking dreamily at the music shelf when he returned a book during a slow afternoon at the library.

It would have been comical if it weren’t so very sweet. Susan and Gordon watched and waited to see which would notice their feelings first.

This question was answered when Bob walked into the apartment one day, straight across the room, and collapsed dramatically into a chair. Gordon picked up the tub of leftover popcorn from the movie they had watched the previous night and offered some to Susan.

"I failed. I wasn't going to fall in love but Linda's just so...so...Linda. Ugh. I like her so much," Bob said miserably from the chair.

Susan casually handed Gordon five dollars.

“I don’t think you two are taking this seriously!” Bob said, pouting. He was clearly trying to sound offended but all he managed was petulant.

Gordon shook his head. “Bob, we saw this coming the moment you saw her. We were just waiting for you to figure it out."

Bob sighed and there was silence for a moment before he finally pulled himself up and faced both of them.

“I don’t want to let you two down,” Bob said sounding very worried.

Susan got to her feet and hugged him. “Bob, you could never let us down.”

Gordon agreed, wrapping his arms around them both as he always did. “We want you to be happy.”

Bob hugged them back, “I want you guys to be happy too.”

“We are,” Susan assured him. “And we’re happy that you’ve found someone that you love.”

A few minutes and many reassurances later, Bob was finally convinced that he had not ruined everything by falling in love.

“When are you planning to tell her?” Susan asked.

Bob shrugged. “Never.”

His spouses looked at each other. “Never?” They said in one voice.

“If I don’t tell her how I feel then she doesn’t have to deal with it.” Bob said, trying to explain his reasoning. “She probably doesn’t return my feelings. And even if she did, that wouldn’t be fair to her. How could I ask her to give up her chance at finding a triad in favor of someone she can’t marry?”

Susan looked at Gordon. This sounded an awful lot like what they had said to Bob four years earlier.

“Isn’t that her choice to make?” Susan asked gently, sensing Bob’s need for some sisterly advice.

Gordon nodded. “Bob, you know Linda. She’s not someone who wants to be protected. She’s cautious, but once she has the facts she makes her own decisions about what she wants to do.”

“Linda’s smart,” Susan agreed. “She’s very good at...”

“Trouble?” Bob interjected, but he was smiling.

Susan laughed, glad that Bob was starting to look happy again. “I was going to say ‘thinking things through,’ but you have a point. If Linda shares your feelings, and wants to date you, she’s not going to ignore her feelings just to take the easy path.”

Bob’s smile took on an affectionate quality. “She’s not. And I love that about her.”

“Linda makes you happy,” Susan said softly.

Gordon saw where his wife was going with this and turned to their husband. “Talk to Linda,” he said. “You two have a strong friendship. If she returns your feelings you’ll both be even happier. If she doesn’t your friendship will still be there and you can be happy being friends.”

Bob looked at Susan and Gordon. He knew they wouldn’t tell him to do something unless they were sure it was a good idea. “Okay.”

Susan and Gordon smiled happily at him. “Atta boy!”

“Can I have a hug first?” Bob asked.

His best friends laughed. “Of course you can.”

After another hug and a last reassurance that it would be fine, Bob was off to confess his feelings to Linda.

Susan snuggled close to Gordon. “There will need to be a conversation about what happens next. But I have a good feeling about their relationship.”

Gordon held his wife to him. “So do I. But I have an even better feeling about ours.”

“Me too,” Susan said. And she leaned in to kiss her husband deeply.

\--

Bob found Linda sitting on the steps of 123 with a book in her hand. He stopped for a moment as he left the building and just looked at her, she was so pretty and smart. After a few seconds he reminded himself that it was time to talk to her. He walked down the last few steps and tapped her arm to get her attention.

Linda looked up from her book. “ _Hi Bob_ ,” she signed with a smile.  
  
Bob grinned at the use of his name sign.

“ _Can I talk to you?_ ” he signed in response. “ _Somewhere private? Like…_ ” He thought for a moment, their apartments were available, but somehow that felt like too much for this conversation, they needed somewhere more neutral. “ _The roof?_ ” he suggested.

Linda laughed, “ _The roof? Sure. Why not?_ ”

She put a bookmark into her book before standing up and following Bob up the stairs.

“ _What did you want to talk about?_ ” Linda asked curiously as they reached the roof and walked over to the side that looked down on Sesame Street.

Bob glanced down towards the street, half expecting to see Susan and Gordon standing there cheering him on. Seeing no one he turned back to Linda.

Bob took a deep breath, confessing your feelings was hard and he was nervous. It crossed his mind to wonder if this was how Susan felt before confessing her love to Gordon.

“ _You know how I only pretend to be Susan and Gordon’s third so that eventually they can adopt?_ ”

Linda nodded, “ _Right_.”

“ _And how when we told you all the truth Luis asked what I was going to do when I fell in love and I told him I wouldn’t?_ ”

Linda nodded again, “ _I remember._ ”

Was it his imagination, or was Linda starting to look the way he felt? Scared but with an underlying belief that this was right.

“ _I was wrong. I tried not to, and believe me, I tried hard._ ”

He definitely wasn’t imagining the look in her eyes.

“ _Linda, I…_ ” He stopped and started again. “ _Linda, you’re brilliant, and you’re funny, and clever, and beautiful, and trouble._ ”

He was rewarded with a laugh for that last comment.

“ _You make me happy_ ,” Bob told her, remembering Susan’s words. “ _And I…_ ” He stopped again, still struggling to get himself to make those last two signs.

Linda came to his rescue. “ _I love you too._ ”

Even before her words really sank in, Bob was grinning broadly and he moved closer, though still far enough away to sign properly.

“ _Linda_ ,” he signed. Her name sign coming easily to him. “ _I love you_.”

And with that, he closed the distance between them and hugged her. They stayed there for some time. Her head pressed against his chest, where he was sure that she could feel his heartbeat. Bob kissed the top of Linda’s head and enjoyed the happy sigh she made in response.

Bob could have stayed there all day, and was sure that Linda would have agreed, but they didn’t have the luxury of saying “I love you” and leaving it at that. Real or not he was married and that meant that they would need to have a serious discussion.

He let go of Linda, pleased that she seemed just as reluctant to let go of him. That was the only downside to Linda being Deaf, Bob thought. They needed to be a step or two apart in order to sign.

“ _We should probably talk about what this means and what we both want from this relationship,_ ” Bob told her, still thrilled that she loved him back.

“ _We should_ ,” Linda agreed. “ _But that can wait. I’ve wanted this a long time and right now, all I want is to kiss you._ ”

Bob blushed slightly but gave her a tender smile. “ _Then why don’t you?_ ”

With a grin, Linda pulled Bob down to her level and kissed him for the first time.

\--

Susan and Gordon reluctantly pulled away from each other as the door opened and Bob once again entered the room. This time he was holding Linda’s hand and they were both grinning broadly.

Susan and Gordon rose to their feet, grinning almost as widely as the new couple.

“I told her!” Bob said excitedly, letting go of Linda’s hand so that he would be able to properly sign for her.

“ _I take it you feel the same way?_ ” Susan teased, turning to look at Linda as she signed.

Linda laughed. “ _Yes._ ”

“You guys were right as usual,” Bob said.

“We’re always right,” Gordon teased.

Susan elbowed him lightly, “Not _always_.”

“Always,” Gordon repeated. “Name one thing we’ve been wrong about. We were right about each other. We were right about both the downsides and the upsides to going along with Bob’s plan. We were right that he and Linda were falling in love…”

Susan laughed, “All right, you have a point.”

“ _You’re right,_ ” Linda told Bob. _“They_ are _always adorable._ ”

“Were you two talking about us?” Susan asked in a mock annoyed tone, pleased with herself for managing to convey the same attitude in ASL for Linda’s benefit.

Bob smirked. “Am I not supposed to talk about my spouses all the time?”

“About that,” Gordon said. “The four of us need to discuss what happens now.”

“ _We discussed that a little bit before we came to talk to you,_ ” Linda told him.

Bob agreed. “Why don’t you two start and we’ll tell you what we think?”

Gordon nodded. “All right. Susan and I had a long talk after we agreed to Bob’s plan about what we would do when he fell in love. We wanted to make sure there would be options.”

“You don’t _have_ to stay married to us, Bob.” Susan said quietly. “There are a lot of ways to end a marriage that don’t place blame on anyone. Gordon and I would keep our benefits as a standing couple.” She tried not to think about the fact that if Bob divorced them their chances to be allowed to adopt would vanish.

“ _No._ ” Linda and Bob said firmly as soon as Susan finished speaking.

“I made a promise,” Bob said. “I promised to marry you two so you could adopt. I won’t go back on that.”

Linda smiled at Bob before turning back to Susan and Gordon. “ _I am not going to be the reason you can’t be parents. I want you two to get to adopt that baby you’ve always wanted.”_

Susan and Gordon were both starting to feel a little teary-eyed. They had the most wonderful friends in the world.

“Are you sure?” Gordon asked, trying to hold off on the emotions until he was certain they meant what they said. He looked at Linda.

“ _You’re going to have to help us pretend too,_ ” he signed. “ _You two won’t even be able to hold hands off the street, or if visitors who don’t know the truth come by._ ”

Linda nodded, “ _I know. But we can hold hands the rest of the time._ ”

“You two are giving up a lot for us,” Susan said. “And you’re getting very little out of it.”

“We are getting something out of it,” Bob assured her. “We’re getting to see how happy being able to adopt a baby makes you two.”

Linda agreed. “ _Besides, I’ve already got what I want._ ” She looked at Bob affectionately.

“You won’t be able to get married,” Gordon said, sounding concerned.

Bob laughed. “We don’t have a third, and as this whole thing has proven,” He gestured to his wedding rings. “Couples aren’t allowed to get married. So that’s not relevant right now.”

“ _If we happen to find a third in the future we’ll have this discussion again,_ ” Linda said. “ _But I don’t think the decision will change._ ”

Bob hugged his girlfriend for a moment before he spoke, still signing every word. “We’re agreed that we want you both to be happy. And you don’t need to worry about what will make us happy because we already are. We are going to make this work and you are going to get to be parents.”

At that, Susan and Gordon both started to cry happy tears.

 _“We can’t possibly thank you enough,_ ” Susan signed.

“ _We love you both so much._ ” Gordon signed before putting his arm around his wife.

“ _We love you too,_ ” Bob and Linda signed together.

The four hugged each other. Gordon had been right. The right person for Bob did understand and all was right in the world.

\--

It was surprising how little changed with Bob and Linda dating. There were a few differences of course. Especially how many times Susan and Gordon found them kissing half-hidden behind a tree. They were always surprised to learn that people could see them and that they weren’t very well hidden. But they promised not to kiss at all any time anyone from the adoption agency came by. Even if they had been expert hiders, ruining Susan and Gordon’s chances at being able to adopt was not a risk either was willing to take.

Oscar had grumbled a bit about “More mushy couples, yuck.” But everyone else had been happy for them.

“I told you you would fall in love,” Mr. Hooper told Bob.

Bob merely laughed and agreed that Mr. Hooper was right. “Does this mean that you’re going to fall in love someday too?” He asked cheekily.

Mr. Hooper gave him a look. “Certainly not. Did you want to order something or are you going to get out of my store?”

Bob simply chuckled and resumed his conversation with the others.

Most things did not change. Bob was still in Susan and Gordon’s apartment more often than not, sometimes without them even noticing that he had walked in until he said something. The time he spent in Linda’s apartment hardly seemed cut into his time with Susan and Gordon at all.

Linda and Bob still caused trouble, often bringing the others into their ideas. Susan continued to disapprove of their behavior and Gordon continued to laugh as Susan complained that Bob was supposed to be be setting a good example for the street’s children. “We have a responsibility to these kids. Bob is our husband. He should be more help.”

“Bob does help,” Gordon assured her. “He’s great with the kids. And none of our friends ever do anything that could cause trouble for anyone else. They keep the kids safe.”

“You’re right,” Susan admitted. “But the example they’re setting...” She paused for a moment before she continued. “Someday we’ll finally get to be parents. I want to be sure that our child doesn’t learn anything that could get them hurt.”

Gordon’s face took on a look of understanding as he realized why Susan was concerned. “Kids need a variety of role models. If all they see is people who never do anything wrong and who never make mistakes, then they’re missing important lessons. And I promise that no one on this street would purposely set a bad example. Everyone will help us raise our child. And that little boy or girl will be very lucky.”

Susan smiled up at her husband as he held her to him. “Thank you.”

Gordon kissed her, “You’re welcome.”

Susan looked down the street to where Bob and the younger adults were discussing the best way to build a trapeze in the arbor, and discovered she felt better about it.

She still stopped them though. After all, what if they fell?

\--

Four years later, Olivia moved in.

“I told you I might move in one day,” she told Gordon with a grin. “Thanks for the apartment, Big Brother. You didn’t have to give me the biggest one available.”

“Hey, only the best for my little sister,” Gordon said, giving her a hug before picking up another box to carry into her apartment.

Mr. Hooper gave Mr. Macintosh and Willy a knowing smile. “I had a feeling Olivia would feel as drawn to Sesame Street as her brother does.”

Bob and Susan were thrilled to have their sister-in-law living nearby.

“You’re going to to help me keep everyone in line right?” Susan teased. “I can’t depend on Bob here.” She elbowed him in the ribs.

Olivia giggled at Bob’s offended reaction. “I don’t know, Susan. I’m not sure anyone on this street can be kept in line. I’ll try though.”

Olivia was better at being responsible than Bob, but she was certainly not Susan. Unless she thought it was likely to end in someone getting hurt, Olivia was perfectly willing to go along with ridiculous ideas. She quickly made friends with Maria, Luis, David, and Linda and was often seen joining in on the trouble.

Gordon was amused. “You know my sister, Susan. Did you really expect her to try to stop their plans?”

Susan shrugged. “No, but I feel better about their ideas if I see Olivia with them. She’s got enough sense to stop them if it’s something dangerous.”

Olivia fit perfectly into Sesame Street. She adored everyone and everyone adored her. The random things that happened on the street fazed her not at all. Or at least no more than any of the other residents. And Big Bird quickly claimed her as another one of his mother figures. He was growing quite the collection of honorary parents.

Olivia was thrilled with the designation of “Honorary Mother Bird” and made sure to spend time with her new “son.”

“I feel like I’ve come home,” she said to Gordon one day. “This is where I’m meant to be.”

\--

It hadn’t been very long after Olivia moved in when the younger adult residents of Sesame Street discovered something surprising.

Olivia was the one who noticed it first. The age difference between her and Gordon didn't seem as pronounced as it once was. It wasn't as if they were the same age, but it was different. She looked at Susan and Bob and felt the same about the two of them. She mentioned it to the others who realized that they hadn't seen a stark difference in Mr. Hooper, Mr. Macintosh, or Willy's appearances either. It was with that that they had gone to the eldest three to ask. Mr. Hooper looked at all of them as they asked.

“We don't age,” he said, motioning to Mr. Macintosh, Willy, and himself. “We did once but it slowed and stopped.”

“Why didn't you say anything?” David asked. Mr. Hooper shrugged.

“We didn't think it would affect you,” he answered. “Gordon, Susan, and Bob are showing more that it does. So, it will for the rest of you too. Congratulations. Now, are there any other questions or can I finish Big Bird's milkshake?”

There weren't any for the moment and the idea that there hadn't been time wasted where Gordon, Susan, and Bob might be considered too old to adopt kicked in. From there, other reliefs occurred: David and Maria didn't feel as pressured to find a third. Linda and Bob were far more relaxed about their own relationship and their future. Overall, it just let all of them take the future a little slower and with a lot less worry.

\--

Maria and David hadn’t needed to feel pressured to find a third as they thought they did, as the man had been right in front of them all along. Luis fit in with the two of them as if he had always been part of their relationship, which in a way he had. The three of them had arrived at about the same time, Maria had become partners with him at the Fix-It Shop, and David and Luis had always been close. Once the three were together, it just seemed to make sense. They had decided to tell the others at one time.

“That’s wonderful!” Susan said, pulling Maria into a hug. Gordon was giving a similar hug to David while Bob had gotten to Luis first to congratulate him. Olivia and Linda were quietly exchanging money. Maria caught it first.

“You were betting on us?!” She asked, sounding scandalized.

David noticed something else.

“Why are you both getting money from each other?” He asked.

“ _Olivia bet you would figure it out in the Fix-It Shop which you said you did. I got closest to the amount of time it took you to figure it out._ ” Linda signed with a smug smile.

Luis looked at Olivia. “What did you bet?” He asked.

“Once I figured out we were immortal?” She asked. “Next century. Linda bet within the decade.”

“I hate you both,” Maria said, slightly pouting. Both women rolled their eyes and pulled their friend into a hug. Mr. Hooper just nodded his approval, Willy smiled and Mr. Macintosh grinned.

“It’s about time someone in this family didn’t have someone pretending to be a third,” Mac said teasingly. “Unless there’s something you’re not telling us, Luis.”

“No, no,” he said quickly, as he pulled Maria and David to him and they rested their heads on his chest. “Very in love.”

Linda moved over and leaned into Bob while Olivia just looked on in amusement with her brother and sister-in-law. They figured that would be it for a while. They were wrong, but in the best possible way.

\--

Like most things on Sesame Street, it could be said that this sort of good trouble was Linda’s fault. Indeed, Maria most likely would have tried to ignore it as Bob had. Luis and David were oblivious. Linda had complained to Olivia about all of them, getting the “they’re all ridiculous” response she was looking for. Therefore, while it was in Linda’s nature to cause trouble, she was also really the only one who was going to pull it off. What she needed first, however, was an ally other than Olivia, who agree to go with her mostly because she wanted to see how this turned out.

“ _Would you say something? Please?_ ” Linda asked. Olivia rolled her eyes at the third member of the conversation.

“You’re making Linda worried, Maria. We all know that you like her. Linda likes you. Bob likes Luis and David. They like him,” Olivia stated.

“ _But I’m in a committed relationship_ ,” Maria said. “ _Linda and Bob are in a committed relationship. We can’t have five people!_ ”

“ _Susan and Gordon shouldn’t have just two but they made it work._ ” Linda reminded her. “ _Why is this different?_ ”

“The way I see it,” Olivia said calmly, setting her hand on Linda’s leg for a second to reassure her before going back to signing. “Linda and Bob are already affected because he’s married to Gordon and Susan.”

“But he’s not in love with them,” Maria reminded her.

“ _But I am in love with you._ ” Linda said. “ _And David and Luis. I’m not asking you to leave them. I’m asking you to let us all be together._ ”

Maria seemed to melt under that confession. “If the guys agree to it,” she said as a stipulation. Linda nodded.

“ _Everyone agrees or we don’t do it._ ” She promised. Maria looked a little embarrassed.

“ _And Linda? I’m not attracted like that to Bob._ ”

“ _We’ll figure it out._ ” Linda promised. Olivia sat back, smiling at them both.

“So, this was the easy part,” she warned. “Now you have to convince the guys.”

“Are you going to help with that too?” Maria asked. Olivia pretended to think about it.

“I don’t have anything better to do,” she answered. “So, let’s come up with a way to convince them.”

\--

It fortunately didn’t take as long as they thought it would. Luis and David were both skeptical, but after a little thought they agreed that they did like Bob and Linda and that it would be nice to add them in. Bob protested that he wasn’t into men that much, but Olivia countered that she’s seen him in college and that was a lie even if he never was attracted to her brother. Thus, they had what Bob later called “The Important Conversation on Our Relationship” and what Olivia countered with calling “Ridiculous People Talking About Things They Already Know” and claimed she should have ordered out. Realistically, both of them were wrong.

“So, how do we want to do this?” David asked, throwing down the first question. Linda leaned forward.

“ _Just like you would any other relationship._ ” She answered. “ _You three continue doing what you’ve been doing and if you want to marry, marry._ ”

“But doesn’t that cut you out of the marriage?” Maria asked.

“I think Bob already sank that ship,” Olivia said dryly, winking at him to let him know she was joking.

“Olivia is right,” Bob said, accepting the joke. “Linda and I already decided that I should stay married to Susan and Gordon.”

“ _It isn’t going to hurt our feelings if you go that way eventually._ ” Linda agreed.

Luis nodded, stood up and offered a hand out to Bob. The other man took it as Luis glanced toward David and Maria who gave him a reassuring smile. On the other side, Bob double-checked with Linda who gave him the same smile. The two gently kissed each other and then pulled away somewhat reluctantly. Linda reached out a hand to Maria who grasped it and the two embraced as well, testing the new limits. After that, David leaned over to kiss Linda and then Bob before pulling Maria into a kiss while leaning into Luis. Other than Maria and Bob not becoming involved physically with each other, it was as if they had all been waiting for this and didn’t realize it.

They also didn’t realize the last piece of the puzzle until Bob accidentally reached out to kiss Olivia, stopping right before he did as he realized his mistake. The others paused and waited, though none of them looked anything other than encouraging, supportive, and reassuring over the idea. Olivia solved the problem by kissing him and turning to the others, and none of them were left to wonder when Olivia had become part of the plan as well, but all of them knew that without her, they didn’t feel complete.

\--

Time continued on. They had, of course, let the others know about their relationship which Susan and Gordon teased Bob and Olivia in particular about considering their behavior over the years regarding being in-laws which they took in good humor. Mr. Macintosh and Willy were both happy for the lot of them and yet still amused.

Mr. Hooper looked at Bob. “There. I think you’re connected to the entire Street now. Stop legally and figuratively marrying everyone you meet.”

He then did give them a gruff congratulations while Bob just looked sheepish. Mr. Macintosh insisted that it was because Bob was the most similar to Mr. Hooper in their situations and now Mr. Hooper found himself in the same boat as Bob, insinuating Mr. Hooper’s terribly held secret of dating David’s grandmother. Mr. Hooper banned Mac from the store for three days. And then banned Willy for the same amount of time for laughing.


	4. Chapter 3

During the next seven years, all of them learned how to adjust to the relationships. For example, Susan and Gordon were still married to Bob, but Bob spent time with the other five at their places. This meant that if there was company, they had to remember to stay with their supposed partners only. They figured out ways to make sure that everyone felt comfortable in the relationships as different days tended to matter to which person they wanted to be with. Some days, they all wanted each other. Other days, Linda and Maria wanted to be alone. Sometimes Bob was with Luis while David stayed with Olivia. It didn’t take long before they had a rhythm and the fear of jealousy or hurt feelings faded away as they understood each other’s needs.

For their part, everything continued on as normal for Gordon and Susan. They went to work, they checked in how the adoption process was going, they parented the others, and they were far calmer about how long it was taking to get a child, even if they were impatient about it. It was only a matter of time, after all. That time finally came after Thanksgiving.

They hadn’t started decorating for Christmas quite yet, having decided to wait this year until after Hanukkah, since the holiday came early in December that year. They had been visiting a child who could become a member of the family over the past year, but they still hadn’t gotten the go ahead quite yet. All of them were hoping that Susan, Gordon, and Bob would get the go ahead soon enough, and patience was waning. On the first day of Hanukkah, they received the call that they’d been waiting for.

Susan nearly dropped the phone, Gordon catching it and pulling her to him while Bob leaned over to hear what he could. “Right. Three days. We’ll be there. Thank you,” Gordon said and set down the phone in the cradle. He turned to Susan and pulled her to him. “We’re going to be parents!"

Susan just squealed in excitement, pulling him in for a kiss as he held her. Bob stood back and watched, pleased with the sight, before he was pulled in to their embrace. Gordon couldn’t stop grinning, but he did try to put as much seriousness as possible into his voice. “Thank you.”

“You guys deserve it,” he said. “And Miles is a great baby.”

“He is,” Susan said lovingly. “We’re going to get our baby.”

“Hey! We’re getting a baby for Hanukkah!” Bob said happily. “On the first day of Hanukkah…!”

“No Bob!” Both of them called out. They were, of course, grateful but if they let him continue, then this would be a song he brought out every year forever. It was best to nip it in the bud now. Bob pouted but let it go. For now.

Once they had calmed down enough, they rushed to tell the rest of their family, gathering them as quickly as they could into Hooper’s Store. Once they were there, the three didn’t even wait for the group to settle down. “We’re adopting Miles!”

They needn’t have tried to calm them down as that would have riled them back up again.

“ _They’re finally letting you bring him home?_ ” Linda asked.

Susan nodded. “In three days!”

“Yay!” Big Bird yelled happily and then paused. “Who is Miles?”

“Do you remember how we’ve been visiting a baby for the past year? We told you that’s where we were going, remember? Well, now they’re going to let us bring him home,” Gordon said.

“Won’t his mommies and daddies be upset?” Big Bird asked.

“Well, Susan, Bob, and I are going to adopt him. He doesn’t have any parents right now and we want to love and take care of him,” Gordon said.

“Like all of you do for me?” Big Bird asked excitedly.

“Exactly like we do for you,” Bob answered. Big Bird seemed to be placated by that for the moment.

“We’ll be getting him in three days,” Susan continued. The questions ended and the three found themselves in a sea of hugs. Bob managed to pull out for the moment and looked at Mr. Hooper.

“Looks like you’re getting a grandson for Hanukkah,” he said softly.

“Looks like,” Mr. Hooper said back just as softly. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Bob answered, though he thought it was a little silly for Mr. Hooper to say it to him. As happy as he was, this was Susan and Gordon’s baby. He just was helping them out.

\--

They prepared for Miles to come, getting his room ready and working on furniture. They explained to Big Bird, again, about the adoption process. They got to work on fixing the cradle for Miles with Big Bird’s help, and Olivia’s lack of help, due to the latter taking a great many pictures. Mr. Hooper ordered an abundance of diapers for Hooper’s Store while David offered to deliver them and other things if Susan, Gordon, and Bob were too tired from taking care of Miles. Luis and Maria set up a playpen. Linda had found some books for the new family to read together. Even Oscar was involved in welcoming the new baby, in his own way of course.

Finally, Susan, Gordon, and Bob were joined by Olivia and headed out to go get Miles. There was, of course, paperwork to be done and they had to go through some last minute instructions. Olivia happily distracted Miles while her brother and in-laws worked on it. Finally, the paperwork was done. Susan picked up Miles, looking at Gordon who just looked encouraging and carried him out the door with the other three right behind her. Once they got to the car, she stopped. “This is actually happening,” she said softly, looking at Miles who was just looking around. “We have a son.”

“We’re parents,” Gordon agreed. Holding Miles and saying the words made it feel so much more right in their eyes. Bob grinned.

“Why don’t you two sit in the back and I’ll drive home?” He suggested. Olivia scoffed.

“I’ve seen how you drive. I’ll drive us home,” she said as Gordon and Susan ignored the two and proceeded to get Miles in the car. Miles seemed to find the whole thing as ridiculous as his parents did and just babbled before chewing on a stuffed bear.

“I can drive!” Bob said.

“No you can’t,” Olivia answered. “Gordon?”

“Bob, let Olivia drive. This way you can talk to us on the way home,” Gordon said. He looked at Susan. “We’re happy with one kid, right? Because we already have to deal with your brother and my sister.”

“One is fine,” Susan agreed. “Get in the car!”

Bob handed over the keys reluctantly and the two got in the car. With the baby ready to go, and the fighting stopped, they made their way back toward Sesame Street. The others were waiting for them, all of them excited about the whole thing. They gently chased them all off for the moment to help Miles acclimate to his new surroundings, but assured them that they could see him later, a promise that they absolutely kept. They began to baby-proof the house. Susan’s parents visited them to see the new baby. Finally, Miles was home.

\--

Getting used to Miles was a new adventure for Sesame Street, though one that they enjoyed. Miles seemed to enjoy the attention that was given to him by all of the members of the street. Gordon and Susan had decided against a Christmas tree in their apartment since they wouldn’t have time to make sure it was safe for Miles, though they decorated up higher. Mr. Macintosh, Willy, and Mr. Hooper all continually snuck him various age-appropriate things that Gordon and Susan wouldn’t notice until later. Bob found it hilarious and was usually just as excited as Miles over it.

It wasn’t until Gordon was talking to Miles one day that he realized that they had forgotten something important. “Susan?” He called out, Miles in his arms. “We never talked about different names for Bob and me.”

Susan paused for a minute and then laughed. “I guess we didn’t. Of course, that would mean we would have to push harder to get Bob to figure out he’s Miles’ parent too instead of patiently waiting for him to realize it.”

“I wanted to push it the day we got Miles,” Gordon said. Susan gave him a look.

“He wouldn't have listened and you know it,” she scolded. “For now, it’s probably not a problem. We can try to see what we think will work best.”

Gordon nodded his agreement. Miles, on the other hand, had already considered it, as much as a baby could. He referred to Susan as “Mama” at the moment, though that would shift to Mommy in time. This wasn’t a surprise though Susan loved it every time he called her that. Gordon was completely patient considering that they had forgotten to even decide on names, when Miles showed him he already had it figured out.

“Boo-Dada!” Miles exclaimed one day when Gordon was with him. Susan had headed out for a bit once Gordon arrived home from work. The boy had been playing for a bit before he really realized Gordon was there and exclaimed his hello. He crawled toward him, lifting his arms. Gordon blinked back the tears forming and picked him up.

“Hey Miles,” he said gently.

“Boo-Dada!” He exclaimed again.

“Boo-Dada, huh?” He asked in amusement. “What’s with the ‘boo’?”

It took about ten minutes for Gordon to figure out that ‘boo’ was Miles’ way of trying to say ‘book’. Gordon found this to be adorable and proceeded to live up to the name by reading to Miles until Susan got home. “Susan! Hey, Miles! Who is that?”

“Mama!” Miles said, reaching out for her. Susan beamed, taking their son. After a minute, Miles looked back at Gordon.

“Boo-Dada!” He said again. Susan blinked.

“Boo-Dada?” She asked. Gordon grinned.

“Book Daddy,” he said proudly. “I guess Miles got sick of waiting for us to decide on something.”

“Decide on what?” Bob asked, walking straight in as usual, though he had a bag of groceries with him. “Hi there, Miles!”

“On what Miles should call Gordon,” Susan answered. Bob looked at her.

“I’ve heard people usually go with ‘Daddy’,” he teased. “There are others, but I don’t think they fit Gordon.”

“They don’t,” Gordon answered. “But Miles here decided that he wanted to call me something else.”

“Like what?” Bob asked. “Hey Miles, what did you call your daddy?”

Miles just stared at him for a minute. Susan shared a smile with Gordon. “Miles,” she said. “Where is Book Daddy?”

Miles happily pointed at Gordon. Bob laughed. “You two have a very smart son,” he said, reaching out. Susan easily put him in Bob’s arms. “You’re a very smart boy.”

Miles giggled, bouncing as he did so. “La-la!” He exclaimed.

Susan beamed. “He’s increasing his vocabulary.”

“I’m not sure if La-La is a word,” Gordon informed his wife.

“We know what it means. It’s a word,” Susan argued.

“I’ll just ask Linda if it’s in the dictionary,” Gordon teased.

“She’ll be on my side,” Susan said confidently. Miles was not pleased that they had managed to distract Bob with the arguing and wiggled.

“Whoa, Miles!” Bob said, reinforcing his grasp.

“La-la Dada,” Miles whined. “La-la-la-la!”

Bob blinked. “Miles,” he said softly. Susan and Gordon’s fight ended.

“It’s a word,” they both said at once, easily agreeing.

“That explains the Boo part,” Gordon said in amusement. “Bob’s has a La-La.”

“Sing to your son, Bob,” Susan instructed. Bob looked at her, tears in his eyes as he finally understood, and did so. Miles was asleep by the time he finished and Bob laid him down. He looked back at the two of them. Susan got there first, pulling him into a hug.

“You promised to help us raise him,” she whispered. “Just because the three of us aren’t in love, doesn’t mean we aren’t a family and Miles needs his other daddy.”

“I’m a daddy,” Bob answered. Gordon nodded.

“You are,” he agreed. “When we thank you for our son, we mean all of our son.”

Bob nodded. Within an hour, he would be out the door to let the others know, only to find out that they had all been waiting for him to figure it out. A little while after they stopped laughing, they would try to soothe Bob’s proverbial feathers. A day later, Mr. Hooper would ask him exasperatedly if he really only just figured it out while Mr. Macintosh and Willy tried not to laugh. Big Bird would let him know that he knew that Bob was Miles’ dad when Bob went to get him. Bob wouldn’t try to explain that one to Big Bird and just agreed that he should have caught on sooner. But all that would happen in the future. In the present, Bob stood above the cradle, being held by Susan and Gordon, as he looked at their son with a new level of understanding what that meant.

\--

Things continued changing on Sesame Street. Miles, for instance, was growing older and becoming more curious about things. Fortunately for Susan, Gordon, and Bob, there was a wealth of baby-sitters willing to watch him when they needed a break. Further, it became more and more rare for only one person to be watching him unless they wanted it that way. Linda tended to stay with Bob as they taught Miles sign language along with learning to talk. His language switched between English and Spanish after Maria and Luis offered to watch him. David insisted on sitting with them the first few times in case they disagreed on a word. “This way,” he said, “You two can go argue and Miles and I can laugh at you from a distance. Right, Buddy?”

Miles beamed. “Yes!” He answered, having no idea what he was agreeing to but David tended to hand him cookies when he agreed with him and Miles was a smart toddler.

Mac and Willy tended to baby-sit together, often times dragging in Mr. Hooper as well as David’s grandmother, Harriet. For all of Mr. Hooper’s denials on the subject, the two had started to take more than a little interest in each other and Mac and Willy enjoyed pushing that considering that they could get away with it. Miles, of course, had no idea what they were doing and just liked the extra attention. Gordon and Susan tended to watch him together and they could count on Olivia if they needed backup and Bob was busy. Things continued as Miles grew out of toddlerdom and into a young child of four.

It was at this time that Gordon’s class received a new student, Gina Jefferson. Unlike most of his students, she and her mother took to living on Sesame Street and Gina worked for Mr. Hooper as David was finishing up his law degree. David in particular befriended her and acted as an older protective sibling. Mr. Hooper enjoyed having her there as well for many reasons with her sensibility being the highest of those reasons. Gina was unlikely to cause trouble and tended to stay away from it. Fortunately, there was a spoken rule about not involving Gina in mischief of any sort, so the teen was able to stay clear of that.

While she grew closer to everyone on the street, and they all had just accepted her into their family, none of them had informed her about the truth of the various relationships. It wasn’t out of malice, of course. It was more because they had had to hide their relationships from everyone and it was just second nature at this point. The downside of this was that they were all very bad at secrets and even worse at hiding. Especially Bob, who still believed that he could hide behind a tree and he was suddenly invisible.

This came to a head when Gina was watching Miles at one point and was pointing out different things on the street so he could name them, amused when he switched between the three languages he knew. She might get “door” or “la puerta” or ” _door_ ”. She pointed again and Miles squealed happily. “Daddy! David!” He called out, clapping. Gina was about to correct him that she had been pointing toward the tree when she looked again and blinked.

“Is your Daddy kissing David?” She asked, blinking and not really directing the question in Miles’ direction.

“Yes,” Miles said decisively.

“Does that happen a lot?” Gina continued, only somewhat hearing Miles.

“Yes,” he answered again, happy that his Daddy and David were happy.

“Do Susan, Gordon, Maria, and Luis know?” She continued.

“Yes!” Miles answered, hoping that would get her to go talk to the others so they could all play. “Daddy and David kiss a lot. Can we go play now?”

Gina snapped back to reality and blushed a bit when she realized who her conversation partner was. “Sure, Miles,” she said. “Why don’t we go play at the park?”

Miles forgot all about the four of them playing together in favor of the park, buying Gina time to talk to David without a four year old listening in. It didn’t take her long to get that chance when Mr. Hooper left the two of them in charge for a bit a couple of days later. “David? I thought you were with Luis and Maria.”

“I am,” he said, smiling a bit at that.

“And Bob is married to Susan and Gordon right?” She asked, trying to be gentle about it.

“Right,” he answered.

“And everyone is happy?” She asked. David set down the glasses he was washing and looked at her.

“Are you okay, Gina?” He asked. She was still young, but old enough to be dating and his worry turned to a possible relationship issue with a classmate.

“I think so,” she answered. “When I was with Miles the other day, we saw you and Bob. Kissing.”

David paused for a minute before he started laughing. Of all the reactions that she thought he would have, that was not one of them. She was worried he was about to deny it when he spoke up. “We forgot to tell you.”

“Forgot to tell me what?” Gina asked. David motioned for her to have a seat and leaned toward her, making sure that no one would be coming into the shop.

“Susan and Gordon married Bob so that they could have a baby,” he explained. “They love him, just not romantically, and they wanted to be just a couple.”

“Which means that they couldn’t adopt,” Gina said slowly. “But you’re with Maria and Luis.”

“And Bob and Linda and Olivia,” he said. “We all fell in love.”

“Six?!” Gina asked in surprise. David just grinned.

“Three and three is six, Gina. We just doubled up,” he joked. She shared his smile at that before David looked serious. “This isn’t going to be a problem, is it?”

“Are all of you happy?” She asked.

“We are,” he answered. “And we’re more careful off of Sesame Street.”

“If you’re happy,” she said. “You shouldn’t have to hide it at all. But I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thank you,” David said, squeezing her hand.

“Miles will though,” she warned and David groaned. “He told me that you guys kiss all of the time.”

“Ah Miles,” David groaned again. “I’ll let Susan, Gordon, and Bob know. Any other questions?”

“Does Mr. Hooper know?” She asked.

“Oh, he knows,” David said with a grin. “You should ask him about it.”

Gina was more sensible than that and asked Mr. Macintosh and Willy instead. They let her know about their own relationship and went with her when she went to let Mr. Hooper know that she knew and would be quiet about it. As as that year continued, Miles became older, Gina learned that she had found the perfect place to live when she came out as ace eventually and there was only support from those on Sesame Street, and a certain triad finally decided that they should settle down and get married.


	5. Chapter 4

When Maria and David had been together for about a year and a half, they made the decision to become a committed couple. And although, unlike Susan and Gordon, they did not follow this commitment by taking the step of moving in together, they began wearing rings to show that they were committed to each other.

Once Luis became their third, the three of them discussed their expectations for the future and whether or not they wanted to get married. They decided to hold off on marriage for awhile. After all, if they weren’t going to age, they didn’t have to worry about taking too long. Even if they wanted to have children there was no need to hurry. So the three decided to take their time. They would reevaluate their relationship goals every so often and decide if it was time to marry.

Meanwhile, Maria and David had started to feel uncomfortable about wearing their commitment rings while Luis had no outward sign of inner affection.

“It feels wrong,” Maria said. “Like we’re holding something back.”

David nodded. “Like we’re leaving him out of a part of our relationship. But we aren’t.”

“We aren’t,” Maria agreed. “You and I have been together longer, but that doesn’t mean that we love Luis any less than we love each other.”

The two discussed what they wanted to do now that they had identified what was bothering them. They didn’t want to ask Luis to marry them just so all three of them would have a ring. Especially since none of them felt ready for marriage yet.

“Why can’t we get him a ring anyway?” David asked. “Why do couples get rings when they become committed but their third doesn’t until they’re engaged? Seems silly to me.”

Maria laughed. “Of course! Since when has anyone on this street done the traditional thing anyway?”

And so they agreed, they would ask Luis if he wanted his own ring. Now all they needed was a good moment to bring it up. The opportunity presented itself a few days later.

Luis had been off the street running errands when a young woman struck up a conversation. Being friendly, he chatted with her for a while. Thinking nothing of it until she mentioned that she and her boyfriend were looking for a third.

Telling Maria and David about it later, Luis expressed surprise that anyone would try to ask out someone that they had just met. “I almost laughed, it was so unexpected,” he said. “But I just let her know that I was in a very committed relationship, I just don’t have a ring because we aren’t engaged yet. She apologized for assuming and went on her way.”

Maria and David glanced at each other before turning back to their boyfriend. “Now that you mention it,” David began. “We’ve been talking about the fact that we have rings and you don’t.”

“It’s starting to feel like we’re leaving you out,” Maria said.

Luis laughed. “I know you two love me. And I don’t feel left out at all.”

David and Maria smiled at him.

“We know you don’t,” Maria said. “But we wondered if you would like a ring anyway. Not an engagement ring, but one like our commitment rings.”

Luis’ face took on a joyful expression. “You mean it?” He asked. “You’re asking me to commit to you two? Officially?”

His partners each took one of his hands in theirs. “We mean it,” David promised him.

Maria nodded, “We love you. And we want to show the world just how much.”

Luis pulled them both close. “I want that too,” he said, before kissing each of them in turn.

This was followed by a very annoying week spent constantly explaining to everyone that just because Luis now had a ring as well, that did not mean that they were getting married.

“We’re very committed to each other. But we haven’t decided to get married yet.”

“Big Bird, when we do decide to get married, you’ll be the first one we tell.”

“Bob, we told you. We’re not engaged yet. Please stop trying to write us a wedding song. ‘Love in The Fix-It Shop?’ Isn’t that excluding David? He doesn’t work in the Fix-It Shop. And that was not an invitation to explain why you think it works.”

“Abuela, Abuelo, Abuelita, no. I wouldn’t get engaged without telling you immediately. How did you even hear about my new ring?”

Thankfully by the time the week was over everyone had gotten the message, even if they did seem confused about why they would wait.

\--

Gina came out about a year after her first visit to Sesame Street. She had heard that it was difficult to come out, especially as something that was considered “unusual.” But here on Sesame Street it was easy. Just like telling her friends any other fact about herself, like her favorite color, or that her mom was Italian, or that she loved dogs.

“I’m asexual,” she explained. “And possibly somewhere on the aromantic spectrum as well. I’m occasionally attracted to people, but I’ve never wanted something long-term.”

The adults smiled. “Thank you for telling us,” Maria said.

“We’re glad you felt comfortable enough to tell us,” Mr. Hooper added.

Susan gave her a hug. “We love you and accept you.”

“Thank you,” Gina said, hugging her back.

She learned that Bob’s Uncle Wally was also ace, and aromantic as well.

“If you ever want someone to complain with about how prevalent romance is in our culture I’m available,” Uncle Wally told her with a wink.

“You just want someone that _you_ can complain with,” Bob teased his uncle.

“Of course I do,” Uncle Wally said. “I certainly can’t complain to _you_.”

Gina laughed and turned back to the others to see Luis and Olivia waiting to speak to her.

“We’re also on the ace spectrum,” Olivia told her. “I’m grey-ace/grey-aro. Attraction is rare for me so I completely understand what you’re feeling.”

Luis nodded at his girlfriend’s words. “I’m demi. I’ve only been attracted to 6 people ever and I’m dating five of them now. We’re also here if you want to talk to someone who understands."

Gina hugged them both before addressing the room at large.

“I’m really glad you all support me. It’s not a huge thing for me, but I did want you to know. I guess the only downside is that not wanting a long-term relationship will make it harder to be a mother someday.” She laughed. “But right now that doesn’t matter.”

Mr. Hooper saw the sympathetic expressions on Olivia and Linda’s faces and decided to speak up before any more bad choices could be made.

“The world is changing,” he told Gina. “I know there’s been a push lately to allow couples to adopt.”

Mr. Hooper gestured toward Susan and Gordon as they watched their son wander around the room and steered him away from anything he shouldn’t play with.

“Perhaps by the time you are ready to be a mother the laws will have changed so that you can adopt as a single person.”

Gina nodded. “I certainly don’t want to have children until after I’ve figured out what I want to be when I grow up. And that could take awhile. And you never know.” She smiled at the older man. “I might be like you and adopt everyone I meet.”

“Don’t sass me, young lady,” Mr. Hooper said firmly. But his eyes twinkled, and he accepted her hug.

Gina looked around the room at all the adults and children who had accepted her into their family. This really was where she wanted to stay. Sesame Street was where she felt at home.

\--

Maria, Luis, and David had convinced everyone to stop insisting that they were getting married, but that was ten years ago, and now they were facing a new round of questions. Everyone wanted to know if they were _ever_ going to get married, and reminding their friends that they didn’t age was starting to not work as an explanation for why they were taking so long anymore.

“You’ve all been very accepting of our decision to wait on getting married, why are you asking now? Is ten years really that long when we aren’t going to get any older?”

“Gina, just because Telly says we’re getting married doesn’t mean we are. Please stop jumping up and down.”

“Big Bird, not getting married yet doesn’t mean we don’t love each other. Marriage is a big step and we just haven’t been ready to take that step.”

Even Oscar had started to ask. Although he phrased his questions more like, “you’re not gonna get married and have a yucky wedding anytime soon are you?”

They didn’t tell anyone that they had started to think more seriously about getting married. The idea was becoming more and more appealing, but they didn’t want anyone getting excited until they were sure they were ready. That still left figuring out how to decide if they were ready which turned out to be easier than they would have thought.

While Susan, Mr. Hooper, Mr. Macintosh, and Willy had stayed out of the entire affair, each of them had gently informed the younger three that they were there if they needed to talk. David called dibs on Mr. Hooper, which the other two absolutely judged him on for calling dibs on a person, yet neither contradicted him. The two had worked together for a long time and it made sense for David to ask him. Maria wanted Susan, which Luis was happy to go along with, leaving him to find Mr. Macintosh and WIlly.

Maria made her way toward Susan's apartment, hoping that Gordon — and especially Bob — would be out at the moment so they could talk. Fortunately, her wish was granted, and Bob had even taken Miles for the day so they were able to discuss the situation without that minor distraction. Susan sat her down, making her some coffee before sitting down and patiently waiting for Maria to say something.

“I think I want to get married,” Maria blurted out. To her credit, Susan managed to keep from laughing, though years of practice with Bob's dramatic statements was probably what helped with that.

“The three of you have been dating for several years now,” Susan said calmly. “I'd be surprised if it didn't happen eventually.”

“But how do I know if I'm ready now, Susan? What if I'm just worried about how long it's taking?” She pressed.

Susan sipped on her coffee as she considered her next words.

“Do you love David and Luis?” She asked. “Can you imagine your life without them?”

“No!” Maria answered looking shocked.

“And you want to be with them and maybe start a family?” She continued.

“Yes,” Maria answered. “But we want that with Bob, Linda, and Olivia too. We talked about it with them in the beginning, but getting married leaves them out.”

“Don't let them be left out,” Susan said smartly. “I've loved Bob as a brother for a long time and while there were many things different about my wedding than I would have thought, having him up there with us was never one of them.”

Maria nodded. “Of course we'll ask them to be up there with us,” she answered, looking calmer. “Symbolically together.”

Susan nodded. “Are you feeling a little more certain?”

“Yes,” Maria answered, looking more confident.

She moved to leave when Susan touched her arm and handed her a piece of paper.

“These were the vows that Gordon, Bob, and I used, and we got them from Mr. Hooper, Mr. Macintosh, and Willy. You don't have to use them, but you should have the option to,” she said. Maria reached over and the two hugged tight. “Congratulations, Maria.”

“Thank you so much, Susan,” she answered before finally pulling away to leave.

At the same time, David had gathered up his courage to speak to Mr. Hooper about everything. “Mr Hooper? Can I talk to you for a minute?” He asked.

Mr. Hooper put down what he was working on and looked over. David had made certain the store was empty, for obvious reasons, but he also knew he should probably do this as quickly as possible before Big Bird decided that now was the perfect time for a milkshake. The older man looked over his glasses when David didn't continue right away. “Yes?”

“I love Maria and Luis,” he said, and Mr. Hooper didn't look impressed with this complete lack of news. David quickly continued. “I think I want to marry them.”

“Either you do or you don't,” Mr. Hooper said. “This isn't something with a middle ground, David. So which is it?”

“I do,” David answered, squaring back his shoulders, but Mr. Hooper merely smiled at him.

“Now you know,” he answered. “So go talk to them. And David? Here's the vows that Mr. Macintosh, Willy, and I used. We offered them to Susan, Gordon, and Bob so it's right that you have to choice to use them.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hooper,” he said, starting to get back to work.

“David?”

“Yeah?”

“Take the rest of the day off and go talk to them,” Mr. Hooper ordered. David did as he asked, quickly leaving as if Mr. Hooper might take it back which of course he wouldn't.

While Susan had been overly patient for Maria to begin and Mr. Hooper had gently urged David to start talking, Mac and Willy were far less accommodating with Luis. Both of them had waited until Maria had left and had seen David fidget, so they could guess what Luis was up to and had entered the Fix-It Shop, closing the door.

“Thinking about getting married, huh?” Mac asked casually. Luis looked at him in surprise. “All three of you have been acting off. Not in a bad way, of course, but like you're trying to figure things out.”

“So, we thought we'd come to you,” Willy continued, motioning to the Fix-It Shop. “Your store doesn't have to move around.”

“How did you two decide when you were ready?” Luis asked, deciding to be as forward with them as they were with him.

“There were three things we realized: One, we were in love. Two, we wanted the world to know it. Three, Harold was running out of patience and we were worried that he'd physically lock us in a room or something so he didn't have to hear us.”

Luis laughed. “And that's when you asked him to to help you?”

“No,” Willy answered. “He offered to help when we ran it by him later. He was getting a little tired of us not making a decision.”

Luis gave them a look. “Is that a hint?”

Mac grinned at him. “Maybe,” he answered. “So, what are you thinking?”

“I want to marry them,” Luis answered. “For two out of your three reasons.”

Mac smirked. “I hope it's the first two.”

“It is. Gracias,” he said before starting to race off. Willy caught his arm.

“You're going to want to wait here,” he teased. “Trust us. Here. These are the vows we used when we got married. Susan, Gordon, and Bob decided to use them too. You don’t have to, of course, but we wanted to give you the option.”

“Thank you,” Luis said, taking the paper.

As they headed out, David flew in. Luis glanced over to see that both of the older men were laughing with each other as they moved out of sight. Luis focused his attention back at David as the latter looked around and then back at Luis. “Where's Maria?”

“Still talking to Susan,” Luis answered.

“I'm here!” Maria said, rushing through the door. Both of them reach out and the three quickly hugged before breaking apart. She looked at them. “I'm ready.”

“Me too,” David said quickly. “I've been ready for a while now.”

“That's good,” Luis said. “Because I am too. It looks like we're getting married!”

The was a rush of cheering between the three when David realized that he was still holding the paper that Mr. Hooper had given him. As they pulled away, he looked at them. “Mr. Hooper gave me the vows that they used when he married Mr. Macintosh and Willy.”

“And when Susan, Gordon, and Bob married,” Luis continued. “Mr. Macintosh and Willy gave me the same.”

As he held out his copy, Maria pulled out her own copy of the vows. “Susan gave me a copy too. I think we should use them.”

“I’m fine with that,” David agreed, looking equally pleased by the idea.

“It’s tradition,” Luis added. “We should let Bob, Olivia, and Linda know before we tell the others.”

They gathered the three together, rather quickly, and pulled them into the Fix-It Shop so that no one overheard. Once they were certain that no one was going to listen in, the three of them looked at their partners and as one spoke: “We’re getting married!”

“Congratulations! It’s about time!” Olivia said, hugging each of them in turn.

 _“We’re so happy for you!”_ Linda said. _“And this won’t change anything between us."_

“I have so many ideas for songs for your wedding!” Bob said, looking excited.

 _“No.”_ Linda and Olivia told and signed to him at the same time. The other three would, of course, agree with Linda and Olivia later, but they were too focused on the fact that they would be marrying soon.

“Just one song?” Bob suggested.

 _“I’ll go get Susan.”_ Linda threatened.

“We’re in the Fix-It Shop,” Olivia said. “I’ll just call her and she can tell you no.”

Bob quickly gave in, at least for the moment, before looking at Maria, Luis, and David. “I am so happy for all of you!”

The six of them hugged and spent the rest of the day together, enjoying the news before officially letting everyone else know the next day. Everyone on the Street was thrilled for them, though Susan and Gordon did quietly make sure that Olivia, Linda, and Bob were okay with the news and offered to be there if it got hard on any of them. For now, however, there was a wedding to plan.

\--

The first thing they did when they began planning, even before choosing a wedding date, was decide who they wanted to stand up for them. They all knew that they wanted their other partners, but they had to decide who each would ask.

In the end Maria asked Linda, Luis asked Bob, and David asked Olivia. But everyone knew that that was just a technicality and all three of their partners were standing up for all three of them.

Most of their friends already lived on or near Sesame Street, but they did want to invite a few other people. Maria’s mother was first on the list. Followed by David’s Grandma Harriet, who had long ago told his friends that they were to consider her to be their grandma as well. It had quickly been agreed to tell her everything over the years when they’d noticed her interest in Mr. Hooper. As such, the two had formed a quiet relationship while she was completely supportive of Susan and Gordon’s only wanting to be a couple and of her grandson’s six person relationship. She also had a wonderful friendship with Willy and Mac. Luis’ grandparents headed his list. They also invited several other relatives as well as a few friends.

Luis’ former boyfriend Rafael and his nephew Antonio couldn’t make it, but they sent a present. Along with a humorous note from Rafael saying that he had forgotten how much time had passed and briefly thought that Maria and David were still teenagers.

Their good friend Buffy, a folk singer, and her son Cody were able to attend. Much to Big Bird’s delight. He considered Buffy to be another one of his honorary mothers and Cody a little brother.

“There’s going to be a party and I get to see Buffy and Cody! You should get married more often!” Big Bird said.

Everyone laughed, and Maria gently explained to Big Bird that a wedding was more than a big party. But she agreed that Buffy and Cody should visit more frequently. Planning continued. Maria had her dress specially made and helped Linda, Olivia, and the flower girl choose their dresses. Miles and Elmo were to be the ring bearers.

Almost before they knew it, it was May and they were quickly approaching the wedding day.

\--

Barkley woke Linda early on the morning of the wedding. Assuming that the dog needed to go out, she pulled on her robe and headed for the door. As she left her bedroom her doorbell light flashed. That must be what Barkley was trying to tell her. Linda opened the door to see Maria standing on the other side.

“ _What’s wrong?_ ” she asked, suddenly concerned.

Maria beamed. “ _Nothing. I’m so happy!_ ” She threw her arms in the air for emphasis.

Linda just blinked at her. It was too early to be that excited.

“ _Did you get any sleep at all?_ ” She asked.

Maria shook her head, “ _I’m far too excited to sleep! And I just want to talk about how happy I am!_ ”

Linda shrugged. She obviously wasn’t getting to go back to sleep. “ _Come in. Give me a few minutes to wake up properly and I’ll put the kettle on. Why don’t you pet Barkley?_ ”

“ _Sorry Linda_ ,” Maria signed as she came in, although she didn’t look very sorry. “ _At least I waited until 5:30 to wake you up?_ ”

Linda admitted that it was better than having been up all night, and ducked quickly back into her room to get dressed. Barkley wagged his tail and nudged Maria with his head until she petted him.

By the time Linda felt awake enough to hold a proper conversation, Maria was looking much calmer. Linda smiled to herself. Barkley was great at calming people down.

Linda started the teakettle and turned back to Maria. “ _Okay. Tell me all about how happy you are._ ”

Maria began signing excitedly again, but still more calmly than she had before.

“ _Why don’t we go up on the roof?_ ” Maria suggested after awhile. “ _I want to watch the sunrise._ ”

Linda agreed. She always enjoyed watching the sunrise with her girlfriend. Barkley settled down on the floor to go back to sleep, as the two women headed upstairs.

“ _How can everyone be asleep?_ ” Maria asked for the third time that morning. “ _Don’t they know I’m getting married today?_ ”

It took a lot of effort for Linda to not roll her eyes. “ _It’s six-thirty in the morning._ ”

Maria admitted that it was early and continued to sign excitedly about getting married.

“ _Are you excited?_ ” Linda asked, already knowing the answer.

Maria nodded. “ _Yes I’m excited. I’m excited. I’m scared to death. But mostly I feel so happy. I want to stand here and shout at the top of my voice, ‘Today is my wedding day!_ ’”

Linda grinned. “ _Go ahead,”_ she told her. “ _Shout._ ”

Maria stared. “ _Shout?_ ” She repeated.

Linda took the opportunity to tease. “I am Deaf.” She reminded her, speaking out loud for the extra entertainment value.

Maria gave her a look before she laughed and hugged her.

“ _I was far too excited to sleep,_ ” Maria said again. “ _I’m sure they couldn’t sleep either. I bet they’re both a nervous wreck._ ” Maria would have been surprised to know that both of her grooms had slept soundly. At that moment, Luis was turning off his alarm and closing his eyes for a few more minutes of rest. David’s alarm wouldn’t go off for another half an hour.

The two women stood quietly together for a few minutes. Each lost in their own thoughts.

Maria looked sideways at Linda. “ _You know we’d marry you guys too if we could right?_ ”

Linda laughed, “ _Of course. I was the one who told the three of you to go ahead and get married if you wanted to when we started this whole thing._ ”

Maria smiled. “ _I remember. It’s just, I love them both so much, but I love you just as much. And Olivia. And Susan and Gordon say Bob makes a very good husband,_ ” she laughed before becoming serious again.

“ _Nothing is going to change,_ ” Maria promised Linda. “ _It’s still going to be the six of us. For as long as we want._ ”

“ _Forever._ ” Linda told her, squeezing her hand. “ _It’s going to be the six of us forever._ ”

Maria’s smile grew. “ _Forever and ever._ ” She promised. And she pulled Linda close to kiss her softly.

\--

Around an hour later, everyone on Sesame Street was awake and ready to help with the wedding preparations. Maria’s mother and Luis’ Tío José, who had arrived a few days earlier, helped Gina, Big Bird, Uncle Wally, Snuffy, and Gordon to decorate the arbor.

Bob and Susan placed “Closed for Wedding” signs on The Fix-It Shop and Hooper’s Store. Harriet sat beside Mr. Hooper as they directed everyone to what they could do to be the most help.

Olivia and Linda had taken another group up to decorate the roof and set out chairs for the ceremony. Mr. Macintosh and Willy organized the food that was to be served during the reception.

The soon-to-be newlyweds helped by staying out of the way.

“Today is about the three of you. Let us do the work,” everyone had told them in response to their offers to help. “Besides, you’re not supposed to see each other before the ceremony. If you’re all helping, you’re bound to run into each other.”

The women brought Maria her dress and veil, much to the interest of some of the boy monsters, who declared that Maria must be the most important person at the wedding. Gina set out place cards and assured Big Bird that he could sit between her and his best friend Snuffy just like he wanted to. The Amazing Mumford demonstrated his latest magic trick to get people dressed for the wedding, although it took him multiple attempts to summon Big Bird’s tie.

Meanwhile, the bride and grooms were busy getting ready for the ceremony in their respective apartments. Luis and David would move in with Maria once they were married, but for now, they still had their own spaces.

Olivia sat on David’s bed and watched him fuss with his jacket, brushing off imaginary dust. She had already had to help him with his tie and assure him that his hair was perfect.

“I just want to look good for them, Olivia,” David said when he caught her rolling her eyes. “They deserve the best.”

Olivia stood up and placed her hands on his shoulders. “David.”

He looked up at her, meeting her gaze.

“Maria and Luis love you,” she promised. “They aren’t worried about how you look. As long as you’re there when you’re supposed to be, and you say ‘I do,’ you will have done everything right. When you look back on this day, you aren’t going to be thinking about whether your hair was fine or if you had dust on your tuxedo. You’re going to be thinking about how happy you felt and how much love the three of you have for each other.”

David hugged her. “Thank you,” he said.

Olivia kissed her boyfriend’s temple. “You’re welcome.”

Luis was far calmer than his fellow groom, which was a relief to Bob after the stress of dealing with Susan and Gordon’s freakouts on his own wedding day.

So far the most annoying thing Luis had done was take his guitar out of its case and play a song before putting it away again. Six times. He had finally given up on putting it back and it was now resting in chair in the corner.

Bob was still halfway convinced that his boyfriend would reach the freaking out point at any moment. He knew Luis was very calm about everything, but so was Gordon, and that hadn’t stopped Gordon from panicking at all.

Luis looked at Bob in the mirror as he finished combing his hair, and laughed. “Bob, you need to change too. Not that I don’t love how you look in sweater, but you’re going to look a little out of place dressed so casually.”

Bob smiled. Luis was right, and this was an excellent excuse to duck away before Luis could decide that he really was ready to panic. At the same time though, if he got cold feet, someone should be there to talk him out of it.

“Are you sure you’re not going to freak out?” Bob asked.

Luis shook his head. “I’m not going to freak out. We’ve been together for ten years. I know them both so well and I love them both so much. I’m ready.”

Bob squeezed Luis’ shoulder, careful not to muss his shirt. “Good.”

He kissed his boyfriend’s cheek. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Luis smiled. “Okay. I’m glad you’re going to be standing up for me.”

“I’m glad too,” Bob said, and he was out the door.

As Bob headed back down the hall toward his own apartment, Gordon came to bring Luis his boutineer and asked how he was doing.

“I’m doing all right,” Luis said, as calm as ever. “Just thinking about María and David. And how I feel about them. We’re getting married.”

Gordon just smiled at him. He had done the same before marrying Susan and Bob.

Meanwhile, Maria was still sitting at her vanity in her dressing gown. Linda, who had already changed into her maid of honor dress, was trying to encourage her to get dressed.

Maria laughed. “ _I know. I don’t want to be late for my own wedding._ "

Linda joined her at the mirror and tried to help her girlfriend with her hair. Maria hadn’t calmed down at all since that morning. If anything she was even more excited. Clearly a big ball of nervous energy.  
  
“ _Calm down_.”

“ _Calm down?_ ” Maria repeated. “ _You want me to calm down? I can’t. I’m getting married today._ ”

Linda gave her an affectionate smile. She was getting tired of hearing that, but she never tired of seeing how happy Maria was.

“ _I know_ ,” Linda signed as she watched their reflections. They both really did look so happy. “ _Today is a happy day._ _And I’m so happy for all three of you.”_

“ _So am I,_ ” Maria replied. “ _But what I really feel, are my feelings for them. For all five of you. But especially for Luis and David. It’s not that I love them more than you and Olivia, or even than Bob. You know I love you just as much._ ”

Linda nodded. She had always known that.

“ _But,_ ” Maria continued, “ _I am marrying them. They’re going to be my husbands, and…_ ”

“ _And that’s special,_ ” Linda finished.

Maria nodded. “ _It is._ ” She squeezed Linda’s hand and turned back to the mirror.

As tended to happen on Sesame Street, all three of the soon-to-be spouses spent a few minutes singing about their feelings and how happy they were that they loved each other. Gordon, Olivia, and Linda looked on and smiled. Each of them understood completely.

Almost before they knew it, it was time for the wedding. They had decided to marry at sunset, when Sesame Street was at its prettiest, and it really was a beautiful sunset.

\--

The timing was beautiful as the music started up and everyone took their places. They didn’t worry about the traditional seating arrangements of placing the bride’s friends in one section, and the friends of the grooms in their own sections. They knew all of the same people. Only their relatives bothered to make sure they sat closest to anyone in particular.

Maria’s mother, Luis’ grandparents, and Harriet were each given a place of honor in the front row. Mr. Hooper sat beside Harriet, if they were holding hands, no one noticed except for Mr. Macintosh and Willy. And they weren’t telling. Susan and Gordon were also holding hands, as were Willy and Mr. Macintosh. Sesame Street was filled with love that day. Even more so than usual.

David and Luis waited for Maria to make her way down as Olivia and Bob stood at their sides, being as reassuring as possible. Linda made her way over and finally the music shifted as Maria made her way down. The six of them looked at each other silently, knowing that nothing would change for them at all and that the six of them were deeply in love.

As the ceremony continued, Maria was the first to feel a sense of panic running through her, but Linda must have sensed it and moved subtly closer to show Maria her support. Maria calmed a bit, knowing that it was just jitters. After all, they would support each other completely forever.

David tried not to move in place, the next to feel more than a little anxious about the entire thing. Olivia matched eyes with Linda, giving the other woman a look that read ‘Can you believe these guys?’ before ‘accidentally’ nudging him with her shoe to get him to stand still. David calmed down while Olivia relaxed as she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to have to tackle him to the ground and drag him back. David focused on her earlier words: They loved each other and would forever.

For the first time since everything started, Luis felt the pang of panic running through him and wished that he’d done this when Gordon had been around to calm him down. This time, however, it was Bob’s turn to look at both Olivia and Linda with an amused expression. Far less subtle than his female counterparts, he leaned over and touched Luis’s arm to physically give him the support that he needed. He felt Luis relax a bit and let go. Luis looked at Maria and David and all of his worries vanished. They would give each other courage, now and forever.

Fortunately, the last realization was made as the vows began.

“Do you, David, take Maria and Luis to be your spouses? In good times and bad, to love and care for each other always?”

“I do.”

“Do you, Maria, take David and Luis to be your husbands? In good times and bad, to love and care for each other always?”

“I do.”

“Do you, Luis, take Maria and David to be your spouses? In good times and bad, to love and care for each other always?”

“I do.”

“Then with the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husbands and wife. You may kiss one another.”

The newlyweds turned to each other and shared the traditional three-person kiss. It might be awkward, but it resolved the problem of who was going to kiss first. And it gave the three of them the chance to hold each other and take in the fact that they were married now. As the kiss ended the other three stepped closer. For a moment it really felt like all six of them were married.

Bob reached out to touch Luis’ arm again. This time it was a gesture of congratulations and of affection. Luis smiled at him. Olivia nudged David and the two grinned at each other. This time, Maria and Linda were the least subtle, as Linda handed Maria’s bouquet back to her and the two women kissed each other on the cheek.

The music began to play again as the newlyweds walked back up the aisle arm-in-arm. Bob offered an arm to Linda and Olivia and the three followed their partners.

\--

No one was surprised when the newly married triad were several minutes late to the reception. Newlyweds always wanted a few moments alone. The fact that their attendants disappeared as well was more of a surprise, but they probably had last minute details to attend to.

Those who were aware that all six were in love just smiled knowingly. Completely understanding that the six wanted a chance to connect and to reaffirm their love. When the six finally arrived in the arbor for the reception, they were all smiling happily and trading affectionate glances.

The arbor was decorated beautifully and the band playing on the fire escape was excellent. Bob was suddenly reminded of his own wedding, and very glad that the relative who had been so pushy wasn’t here.

Everyone began coming over to say their congratulations to David, Luis, and Maria. Their partners stepped out of the way to let them have this moment, and were quickly joined by Mr. Hooper.

“How are you three doing?” He asked gently.

“Great!” Bob answered for all three of them. “They’re happy, so we’re happy.”

Olivia agreed, “There will be an adjustment period now, but I don’t feel any regret that only the three of them can get married.”

“ _Only the logistics have changed,_ ” Linda signed, “ _Nothing else has. Especially not the way we feel about each other._ ”

Mr. Hooper smiled. “Good. That’s exactly the way it should be. Enjoy yourselves.” And he joined the crowd of well-wishers.

Soon everyone was dancing and talking and laughing and having an excellent time. Everyone danced with everyone. Bob danced with Susan and Gordon for the first time since their own wedding.

“This time there aren’t any relatives telling you to dance with us,” Susan teased. “It’s nice to know you want to dance with us anyway.

Bob did his best to look offended. “You think I need to be _told_ to dance with my spouses? Susan, I’m hurt.”

Gordon smirked, “Yeah Susan. Who did you expect him to dance with? His partners?”

Susan took her hand off Bob’s shoulder for a moment to pretend to swat at Gordon. “Oh hush, you.”

Bob just laughed and hugged them both close as they continued to dance.

Meanwhile, Gina was dancing with Olivia and Linda. “I’m going to dance with everyone at least once,” she had told them. “And you two are next on my dance card.”

“You want to know something?” Gina asked now. “I’ve never been very interested in the idea of getting married, but for a minute, watching how happy they are, I thought maybe I’d like to get married too someday.”

“ _You’re not the only one who had that thought_ ,” Linda told her. It was hard to sign and dance at the same time, but the three women managed it. “ _Standing there, looking at the others, I wondered what it would be like if we were all six getting married._ ”

Olivia smiled lovingly at Linda. “ _I think we all wondered that_. _We would make the best double-triad marriage ever._ ”

“ _We would,_ ” Linda agreed.

Gina laughed. “You’d certainly be the first.” She turned serious for a moment. “What if Bob wasn’t married to Susan and Gordon? What if they had been able to adopt Miles as a couple and Bob had stayed single? Would the three of you have gotten married as well?”

Linda and Olivia looked at each other as they twirled Gina around. “ _No_ ,” they answered together after a moment.

“Neither of us has much interest in being married,” Olivia told Gina.

“ _I asked Bob about it once,_ ” Linda signed. “ _He told me that if Susan and Gordon hadn’t needed him, he probably wouldn’t have had any interest in getting married either._ ”

“Luis, David, and Maria got married because it mattered to them,” Olivia said. “It doesn’t to us. There may be some government benefits to getting married. Like the ability to adopt. But it’s not the marriage that’s the important part. It’s each other.”

Linda agreed. “ _As long as we love and take care of each other, it doesn’t matter if we’re married or not. We’re happy. Does that answer your question?_ ”

Gina nodded. “ _It does. Thanks for answering and not just telling me it’s none of my business._ ”

Linda and Olivia smiled. “ _You’re welcome_.”

Miles came running up to his parents as the music ended. “Mommy, Book Daddy, La-La Daddy! Can I dance too?”

Bob picked him up first, “Of course you can, Buddy."

Susan and Gordon smiled affectionately at their best friend and the son the three of them shared. Bob really was an excellent father to Miles.

“Who do you want to dance with?” Gordon asked.

Miles grinned as widely as he could. “All of you!”

“I think we can arrange that,” Susan said.

As Bob continued to hold him, Susan and Gordon each gently took one of Miles’ hands. The band began the next song, and the three of them danced with their son.

Mr. Macintosh and Willy danced together, talking quietly about how happy they were that there was finally a wedding on Sesame Street where all three members of the triad were truly in love with each other.

Beside them, Mr. Hooper was dancing with Harriet.

“I’m so proud of David,” Harriet said fondly.

Mr. Hooper nodded, “I’m proud of all three of them. They’re good at what they do, they’re good with children, and they’ve found each other.”

“You’ve done a great job filling a parental role for them,” Harriet said.

“Thank you,” Mr. Hooper said. “And you did a wonderful job raising David.”

“It was hard,” Harriet admitted. “Raising my grandson by myself. But it was worth it to see him today. Look at him. He has partners who love him, he has a family, he’s happy. He’s grown up to be a wonderful person.”

“He takes after his grandmother,” Mr. Hooper said softly.

Harriet smiled, “Thank you, Harold.”

“You’re welcome,” Mr. Hooper said, with a hint of gruffness, the way he always spoke after he had permitted himself to show his feelings. But he didn’t try to hide his smile, and he pulled her a little closer as they continued to dance.

Maria, David, and Luis had hardly left the dance floor since their first dance as a married triad. They danced with other people as well of course, but they danced mostly with each other. Who was leading varied. Sometimes it was Maria, sometimes it was Luis, sometimes it was David.

They held each other close and talked softly and enjoyed the clink of their new wedding rings against their old commitment rings, which they were were continuing to wear as their second wedding bands.

Maria kissed Big Bird’s beak as they danced past each other. Luis and David aww’d at the sight.

All around them people were dancing. Big Bird and Uncle Wally danced with some of the children, family and friends danced together, and even Oscar was getting into the spirit of things, dancing next to his girlfriend, Grungetta. Grouches didn’t dance _with_ each other after all.

Soon it was time to cut the cake, and everyone clapped and cheered. Then it was time for Maria to throw her bouquet. The guests walked over to the stairs on the side of the building. Female relatives who didn’t know any better tittered and carefully maneuvered Linda, Olivia, and Gina to the front of the group as Maria climbed the stairs.

Maria turned her back to the crowd and tossed the bouquet over her shoulder, where it landed, much to everyone’s surprise, in the arms of David’s Grandma Harriet. Harriet looked just as surprised as everyone else. She had been standing several feet away and only caught it on a reflex.

“Oh dear,” she said, voice full of humor. “I do hope I haven’t doomed anyone to a life of singlehood.”

This statement was met with a great deal of laughter, and relief from the unmarried residents of Sesame Street, who did not want to put up with the teasing.

Then it was time for a special present for the newlyweds. Buffy had promised to sing one of her love songs. Everyone gathered as Buffy picked up her guitar and sang, “I Wanna Hold Your Hands Forever.”

Maria was the first to hug Buffy when the song was over, followed closely by Luis and David. Big Bird hugged her too. “I’m glad you came,” Big Bird told her.

Buffy smiled and hugged him back. “Me too, Big Bird.”

The reception continued, filled with love and happiness, until finally it had to come to an end. Maria, Luis, and David hugged each of their partners and a few friends and relations before leaving. They wouldn’t leave on their honeymoon for a few days, but they were spending the night off of the street.

Susan and Gordon took Miles home and put him to bed. Most of the guests either made sure that the kids got home safely or assisted with the post-wedding clean up. Mr. Macintosh and Willy made sure that the leftover food was safely stored to be taken care of in the morning, before retiring to their apartment.

Mr. Hooper made sure that Harriet got safely back to where she was staying before going to bed. Gina took a few minutes to write about the wedding in her diary. Linda, Bob, and Olivia stayed up until everything had been taken care of and the street was back to normal. The three had agreed to spend the night in the same bed and cuddle. They would probably sleep in until quite late, Linda having already asked Susan to take care of Barkley for her in the morning.

It had been a long day, but a wonderful one. Some things would change, but the things that mattered most stayed exactly the same. And everyone was looking forward to what wonderful things the future might bring.


	6. Chapter 5

It wasn't long after the wedding that Maria found out that she was pregnant. Three months after, to be precise. She did, of course, let her partners know. Luis started hovering, David handled both of his spouses, Linda and Olivia took her out for girl time when the guys were getting overbearing, and Bob helped out the best that he could. Susan helped out by stopping Bob from writing every song he could think of for the baby. Gordon tried to wrangle them into some sort of control. Mr. Hooper, Mr. Macintosh, and Willy just gave them the support that they needed and congratulated them.

Miles watched the adults with a bit of curiosity from his place on the floor where the adults could keep an eye on him, but he was out of the way. Big Bird came over and stood next to him. “Hi Miles!”

“Hi Big Bird,” he answered.

“What are you doing?” Big Bird asked.

“Watching,” Miles answered. “They're putting stuff in Maria, Luis, and David's apartment.”

Big Bird looked proud to give his 'little brother' some new information. “That's because Maria is going to have a baby!”

“She is?” Miles asked. “When?”

“Oh, soon,” Big Bird answered, not really knowing exactly when. “And then Maria and David and Luis and Olivia and Linda and Bob are going to be moms and dads!”

That caught Miles' attention. “But Music Daddy is my daddy.”

“That's okay,” Big Bird said. “I share with you.”

Miles nodded, but still looked a little unnerved. “I guess so.”

Big Bird continued. “Buffy explained it to me a long time ago. There are different kinds of love. There's Miles love and Big Bird love and new baby love.”

“Does Music Daddy know that?” Miles asked and Big Bird nodded.

“All grown ups know it,” he said confidently. “And we get a brother or sister.”

Miles cheered up considerably. “For us?”

“Yep!” Big Bird answered.

Miles' dubious look gave way toward enthusiasm as he tried to help out while the grown ups did things. His mommy and daddies were smart and so were the other grown ups, but they kept putting weird packages around the room and bars on the bed and they weren't getting anything a kid would like. Grown ups were very silly.

“Daddy! I want to come with,” he called out. Bob stopped in his tracks.

“Okay, Miles,” Bob answered, letting his son catch up with him. Bob figured that Miles was probably getting bored anyway. Miles headed into his parents’ apartment and went to his room, looking through things. The new baby was definitely going to need some toys. He grabbed some of his toys that he didn't mind shared and found that he couldn't carry all of them back. Fortunately, Big Bird had followed and was happy to help. Gordon chuckled at the sight.

“Got bored of what you were playing with while you were waiting, huh,” he said, helping Miles carry some of the toys back while grabbing Miles' old playpen on the way. Susan looked over at Miles.

“Gordon! Why did you let him bring so much stuff here?” She scolded before turning her look on Bob who was trying hard not to laugh. “Don't you laugh! You didn't even try to stop them, Bob!”

“He's bored, Susan,” Gordon tried to rationalize. “And Maria doesn't look like she minds.”

Maria was, in fact, looking at Miles with a warm smile. “Did you want me to read one of those books to you?” She asked.

“That's okay,” he said. “It's for the baby.”

All of the adults stopped and Susan's annoyed expression softened. Maria was the first to continue.

“For the baby?” She asked.

“Uh huh,” he answered and pointed to the packages of diapers, the towels, and the wipes. “Babies don't like those things. So they can share my things. Big Bird and I are good big brothers. It's okay. Big Bird told me everything.”

“Why don't you two let us know what you talked about,” David suggested. “Just in case Big Bird missed anything.”

Miles did. He explained that since Bob was his daddy and the baby's daddy then that meant that he was going to be a big brother. He explained that since Big Bird shared all of the grown-ups, that meant he was also going to be a big brother. Maria managed to pull him into a hug first which was fine because Miles liked hugs. After David, Luis, Olivia, Linda, both his dads, and his mom, however, he was a little hugged out. Grown ups were definitely weird. Later on, Gina hugged him as well and he put up with it. Mac and Willy told him he did a good job. Mr. Hooper said he'd make for a good older brother and to come to him if he needed a break because being an older brother could be hard. Miles figured that Mr. Hooper would know because he was a big brother too and really, really smart. All of the other grown ups even listened to him.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for his baby sister to be born. Granted, she decided that the middle of the night was a good time to start coming. Mr. Hooper muttered that it was little surprise that his sister was going to be trouble when all of her parents were trouble. Miles had giggled at this. He'd also giggled when Luis and David forgot to get Maria in the car. And he laughed when his mommy and book daddy forgot to tell his other daddy, Linda, and Olivia that Maria was going to have the baby. The funniest part was when Mr. Hooper snapped at all of the rest of the grown-ups that if they wanted to know what was going on, and they should, they could just go to the hospital.

Mr. Hooper looked at Miles. “Sometimes, I think you and Gina are the only two with any sense.”

Miles nodded. “Me too,” he said, having no idea what sense was but it sounded like a compliment.

Maria was nestled between Luis and David when the rest of the family came in. Linda, Olivia, and Bob joined the other three and Miles motioned for his other daddy to pick him up so he could see.

“What’s her name?” Big Bird asked.

“Gabriela,” the three said together.

Miles thought this was a good name for his new best friend and sister. Bob gently took Miles from Gordon, who grinned at his husband, and let Miles see her closer.

“You know I'm always going to love you just as much, right?” Bob said carefully.

“I know, Daddy!” Miles answered.

She was really little and he'd have to make sure she didn't get lost. He lost small things all the time. He smiled at her and waved. Grown ups were silly but they got him the best presents.

\--

Everyone on Sesame Street started to get used to the new normal of having baby Gabriela around. David, Luis, and Maria found the biggest differences. They had just gotten used to being married, and how they had to get used to having a baby.

“I suddenly understand why it’s considered better to have three parents than two,” Maria said one day when she realized that she had forgotten to pick Gabi up out of her playpen as she followed Luis out the door. When she turned around to get her daughter, she saw that David had remembered and was holding Gabi. “It’s because the more parents there are, the less likely it is that you’ll forget your baby.”

Being parents was an adjustment for the other three as well. Just because they didn’t live with Gabi didn’t mean that they didn’t spend most of their free time with her.

“You know you’re her father too right?” Everyone kept asking Bob.

Bob had laughed the first couple of times but by the sixth time someone asked he was starting to get annoyed.

“Yes. I know that. I’ve known it the whole time. And if I didn’t know I was one of her fathers before, I would have figured it out the first time one of you asked. I know I was slow figuring that out with Miles, but I learned from the experience.”

Figuring out what Gabi should call her parents had been an interesting discussion. What she should call Linda was obvious. Since Gabi would need to sign everything to Linda anyway, she would call her by the ASL sign for “ _Mommy_ ” and eventually transition to the sign for “ _Mother._ ”

“Luis and I grew up speaking Spanish,” Maria said. “I can’t speak for him, but I’d like my daughter to call me by the same words I called my mother. ‘Mamá’ just feels right to me.”

Luis agreed. “I like the idea of being ‘Papá.’ Besides, if we use Spanish terms, that leaves the English ones open for the rest of you.”

It was easy enough for Olivia to take on the title of “Mommy,” but the question remained of how the baby should differentiate between David and Bob.

“She could use descriptors like Miles does with Bob and Gordon,” Olivia suggested.

But somehow that didn’t seem quite right. Bob was perfectly happy for both children to call him “Music Daddy,” but David didn’t want to be “Food Daddy,” or “Law Daddy,” or “Game Daddy,” or whatever else they might come up with.

“I would really rather she just call me, ‘Daddy,’” he said.

Bob nodded, “Calling me Music Daddy is fine for Miles, but none of the rest of you share a name.”

In the end, Linda found the solution. “ _Father,”_ she signed. “ _Gabi could us ASL for you too._ ”

Bob started to smile. “ _I like that. I can be Miles’ Music Daddy and Gabi’s Father_.” He smiled at Gabi, watching from her bassinet. “Hi Gabi,” he said. “I’m your _Father_.” And _Father_ he remained.

“ _We’re going to teach her to be trilingual. Just like we did for Miles,_ ” Linda informed everyone firmly.

Olivia had laughed, “ _Of course she’s going to grow up learning ASL. You didn’t think we’d let her get away without being able to speak to her mommy did you?_ ”

Bob enjoyed spending time with both of his kids at the same time. Miles made it clear that he adored his baby sister and that spending time with her and Music Daddy was something that he loved to do.

“Sing to Gabi, Daddy,” was frequently heard as the three of them spent time together.

Bob suspected that Miles mostly just wanted to hear another song, but Gabi seemed to love music too. She always fussed less when someone was singing or playing an instrument.

Everyone was excited about getting to spend time with Gabi, and they all wanted to get to watch her. Much the same as they had with Miles.

When David finally took the bar exam to be a lawyer, everyone offered to take care of Gabi for the night before the test so that he could get an uninterrupted night of sleep. He passed with flying colors and his friends and partners threw a party to celebrate. Gabi was too young to understand was was going on, but she gurgled and cooed happily at him.

David felt sure that she was saying, “I’m proud of you too, Daddy.”

Time continued on. Gabi got older and began to recognize more and more words. No matter whether they were in English, Spanish, or ASL, Gabi knew her favorite words. Soon she was starting to learn to walk. Everyone was delighted with the newest family member. Especially her Great-Grandma Harriet, who visited even more frequently to spend time with her. Yes, little Gabi was a wonderful addition. The family felt complete.

\--

Mr. Hooper looked at his family. Gabi toddled over into David’s arms while Maria clapped and cheered her on while Luis waited patiently for her to go from David to him. Susan and Gordon were reading on the stairs with Miles who continually asked Gabi if she wanted to see the pictures too. Bob and Linda were curled next to each other watching. Gina and Olivia were chatting interspersed with cheering for Gabi. Big Bird was asking when Gabi would be faster and could come play with Miles, Snuffy, and him. Mr. Macintosh was whispering something to Willy who laughed in response. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see Harriet standing beside him, smiling at the view.

“So,” Harriet said, still smiling. “They seem happy.”

“I’d hope so with all the trouble they caused to get there,” he answered. She ignored his faux grumpiness.

“So why do all of you keep hiding?” She asked. He paused and looked at her. She didn’t look back at him, but still at the others. “All of this happened because you, Mac, and Willy wanted to help keep each other and Sesame Street safe. It’s safe. No one can get in anymore, Harold, if they aren’t safe. Susan, Bob, and Gordon married so that Susan and Gordon could adopt. I think Miles is a good indication that they managed that. And are you really going to hide for the rest of your lives? When we’ll probably live forever?”

He looked at her. “It’s safer.”

“It is,” she answered. “But it’s also a bit stifling, don’t you think? When it comes to you and me, we enjoy it. You want your family out of your romantic business and I enjoy the thrill of sneaking around.”

“Harriet!”

“Just being honest, Harold,” she said, not sounding in any way apologetic. “But you tell me that any of them want to hide it and I’ll call you a liar to your face.”

He didn’t. Instead, he called all of them to him, repeating the very things that Harriet had brought up, minus their relationship of course. “Maybe it’s time to stop hiding it.”

Miles looked at Gordon. “What are we hiding?” He asked. When Gordon didn’t answer right away, a little surprised by Mr. Hooper’s announcement, Miles pushed. “Book Daddy! What are we hiding?”

Gordon smiled down at his son. “Nothing,” he answered, answering for the rest of them who nodded in agreement.

“We aren’t hiding anything anymore,” Bob agreed, leaning against Linda contentedly. Luis leaned into his other side while David had an arm wrapped around Luis and Maria. Maria was holding Gabi, but Olivia had her hands on her shoulder. Susan, for her part, learned in to Gordon.

“What were we hiding?” Big Bird asked. Mac and Willy laughed, each of them hugging the bird.

“If we aren’t hiding it anymore,” Mac said, his eyes sparkling with delight. “Then it doesn’t matter, Big Bird.”

Neither Big Bird nor Miles looked completely content by that while Gabi seemed completely uninterested in the conversation and kept trying to get down to go play. But everyone else knew that they weren’t going to hide anymore. They would hold hands off the street and ignore the opinions of those who didn’t matter. Most importantly, they would be able to show that they were happy to the world just as their children did each day.


	7. Epilogue

Miles firmly believed that Gina was lucky he’d managed to get Gabi out the door to come help. Tarah, their roommate and Gabi’s girlfriend, had been ready to go over an hour ago, but Gabi was taking a lot longer. He really was hoping that this was just part of their Freshman year at college and that she’d be more on top of things later, but Tarah had snickered a bit when he’d made that suggestion.

“Gina will be back any minute. With Marco. And you’re taking forever,” he told her.

“She’ll be here in a couple of hours and you know as well as I do that all of our dads are going to wait until the last minute to help anyway,” Gabi said. “We’ll get there as they’re getting started.”

Miles glared at her, doing a rather apt impression of his mother that Gabi ignored, before they headed back to the street. Gina had never married, more than happy to be single. She had never been part of a primer couple, let alone a triad. So, when she decided to adopt, they were all a little nervous about what would happen. Well, the grown-ups were nervous about it. Miles, Gabi, and Tarah had all heard about single parents adopting children for a while now, let alone couples. They had all been told the story of how Susan, Gordon, and Bob adopted Miles several times, especially after Gina had mentioned she was ready to adopt.

The Street was all aflutter as they worked to get things ready in time. Gabi had been mostly right. Most of the things had been started when they got there though Olivia and Linda were both periodically giving Gordon, David, and Luis looks. Susan saw it and leaned in to the three youngest members. “They were arguing about how to do the crib for twenty minutes. Linda threatened to shove them in it.”

Olivia translated for her and Linda nodded. “ _If they act like babies, then I am putting them in time out._ ” Linda said. “ _And we had this crib here anyway._ ”

“You didn’t try to stop her?” Miles asked his mom.

“I never try to stop Linda when she’s right,” Susan said, ignoring all of the dubious looks she was getting.

In contrast to the three men’s attempts to deal with the crib, Harriet and Bob were inside the apartment, carefully stacking diapers, wipes, blankets, extra sheets, and rags so that they were organized. Willy and Mac were leaving an abundance of food on Gina’s counter so she wouldn’t have to make anything for the next few days. As they were trying to get the crib in, Maria and Gina made their way back with Marco. The crib was temporarily forgotten, though Maria informed them what they were doing wrong, and the focus went to Marco himself.

Miles looked to see his mother just watching Gina with a content look on her face. He joined her. “What are you thinking about, Mom?”

“Everything we did to get you,” she answered. “And you were worth every minute of it. But I am so happy Gina doesn’t have to go through that. None of us will have to pretend again.”

“But we would, right? I mean, isn’t that what you do?” He asked. He felt a clasp on his arm and looked down to see Mr. Hooper looking up at him with a stern look.

“We don’t need to any more,” he said.

“But if Gabi and Tarah needed it,” he started. Mr. Hooper groaned.

“He’s definitely all three of yours,” he told Susan. “He has Bob’s lack of sense on this.”

“He has Bob’s heart in this,” she corrected and kissed her son’s cheek. “Which can be a little misguided but is in the right place.”

“The point is,” Mr. Hooper told him. “We don’t have to. Because things changed.”

Miles nodded at that. Gabi and Tarah might find a third of their own at some point or they might not. He might be part of a couple or a triad or a huge relationship like Gabi’s six parents. He might marry or be like Mr. Hooper and Harriet, the street’s worst kept secret relationship, or like Music Dad, Linda, and Olivia. The point was he had a choice. And while he might have been willing to make the same sacrifice that his dad had made for his other dad and mom, they would never have to find out. Even better, his newest little brother would never have to find out and Miles looked forward to seeing how the differences in tolerance would improve the lives of Gabi, Tarah, Marco, and him.

Yes, things were certainly happy on Sesame Street. Life was good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sesame Street has been brought to you today by the letters B and T and by the numbers 2 and 6. Sesame Street is a production of The Children’s Television Workshop.
> 
> Pterawaters' art masterpost is here, https://archiveofourown.org/works/16162970

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Fanmix for I Will Be Your Third](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16162970) by [pterawaters](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters)




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